By Antynet Ford
Kenyans using electricity bills to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) will now be required to update their details.
In a notice via MyGov today, Kenya Power asked all customers to send copies of their Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), National Identity Cards, Partnership certificates, Certificates of incorporation, and any other legal documents.
The customers will also be required to share their emails, telephone numbers, and postal addresses, which all be submitted to the County Commercial Services Engineer at the nearest Kenya Power office.
“Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on the simplification of VAT return filing for VAT registered taxpayers, Kenya Power would like to inform all customers who use electricity bills to claim VAT returns to update their records accordingly,” Kenya Power stated in the notice.
KPLC stated that the customer’s data shall be protected and will be used for the stated purpose only.
“The Company is committed to safeguarding customer privacy. The above information will solely be used for the stated purpose,” KPLC stated.
The notice by Kenya Power follows a move by the taxman to implement a simplified VAT return filing process for VAT-registered taxpayers, effected from the November 2024 tax period.
The initiative involves pre-filling VAT returns with tax information already available to KRA, aiming to streamline the filing process and enhance the taxpayer experience.
As part of the changes effected last year, taxpayers must issue electronic tax invoices and transmit the invoice details to KRA as mandated by law.
Input VAT claims not validated through the Tax Invoice Management System (TIMS) or eTIMS or not supported by existing customs import declarations for import VAT claims are disallowed.