The national Treasury Offices. [Photo/Business Daily/ Twitter.]
The National Government through the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has revealed that it received Sh. 15.9billion in tax from the share transfer involving Safaricom and it's parent UK company, Vodafone.
In an exclusive statement to The Business Daily on Wednesday, the tax man said that the transaction involved direct transfer of shares and was therefore liable for the capital gains tax.
"The shares transferred from Vodafone International Holdings to Vodacom Group was done through direct transfer and was therefore subject to capital gains tax, " the statement reads in part as quoted by The Business Daily.
The parties involved in the transaction declared and paid taxes to the Kenya Revenue Authority totalling to KES 15,967,782,690," the statement adds.
The capital gains tax was reintroduced on the stock market in January 2016 and was later abolished after fears of driving away investors marred it's implementation.
However the KRA says that the Vodafone, Vodacom deal was liable for capital gains tax because it was sealed outside of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
"The shares transferred did not form part of the shares listed on the NSE, the transaction was done through direct transfer and was therefore subject to capital gains tax, " KRA says in the statement.