In light of the Presidents recent crackdown on tax evaders, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced its search for areas where it can apply blockchain technology for tax administration with the help of the Blockchain and AI Taskforce.
The authority’s Commissioner for Strategy and Innovation, Mohammed Omar, said at the 2018 Tax Summit in Nairobi, that KRA is in talks with a various stakeholders including telcos, the National Transport and Safety Authority and Kenya Power to work out a strategy to create a data pool that will be used to nab tax evaders.
A recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) notes that while blockchain is not a solution to all the problems in the tax system, it could potentially be applied to reduce the administrative burden and collect tax at a lower cost, helping to narrow the tax gap.
Blockchain identity platforms have several uses, among them tax filing and regulatory enforcement. Corporates, government tax administrations, and tax advisory organisations could all be potential beneficiaries of this revolutionary technology.