Tax alert Issue No.1 2018 highlights on the changes to various tax laws and regulations effective 1 January 2018. 

Tax Amnesty on Foreign Earned Income – Clarifications

The Finance Act, 2016 introduced an amnesty on all taxes, penalties or interest for the years of income ending on or before 31 December 2016 for taxpayers with foreign earned taxable income through the introduction of Section 37B of the Tax Procedures Act (TPA). This provision refrains the Commissioner of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) from following-up or enquiring on the sources of such income declared under the amnesty. The Finance Act, 2017 amended the deadline for submission of the amnesty returns from 31 December 2017 to 30 June 2018 and introduced requirements for voluntarily declared funds to be repatriated to Kenya. 

On 10 July 2017, KRA published the Guidelines on Amnesty in Respect of Foreign Assets and Income (Guidelines) to offer clarity on the administration of the tax
amnesty. The guidelines required that the tax amnesty is applied through the completion of a Tax Amnesty Return as set out on the iTax platform as Form A/37B (Amnesty Return).

The Finance Act 2016 introduced an amnesty on all taxes, penalties and interest for the years of income ending on or before 31 December 2016 for taxpayers with foreign earned taxable income. Additionally, this new provision restrains the Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority (read Kenya Revenue Authority) from following-up or enquiring on the sources of such income.

The global tax landscape is a fluid entity - in an ever changing and increasingly complex environment which has seen the arrival of significant tax-related reforms.

The Financier Worldwide features opinions of leading professionals around the world on the latest trends in global tax. Our Tax Partner Michael Mburugu discusses the trends in the Kenya tax landscape (see page 68).