Towards Enhanced Tax Compliance in Kenya

Abstract

Tax is the bottom line source of revenue for the world’s governments. Taxation is the only known realistic means of collecting resources to finance public expenditure. This study aims at unraveling efficient mechanisms to be employed in Kenya to enhance income tax compliance to boost tax revenue for the current and future governments. With the new governance structure of forty seven county governments in place following the promulgation of the new constitution 2010, this exercise is timely. The study will make use of both secondary and primary sources of data in eliciting the required information necessary for the research findings.  The sample size will be made up of twenty companies drawn from different sectors of the Kenyan economy operating within the Nairobi County.

The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20is used in the data analysis and presentation of findings.  The overall finding is that a tax system should be simple, withstraightforward rules for lay citizens to understand and at the same time guarantee that the cost of tax collection and administration is not higher than the actual tax revenue raised.

The research findings lead to a conclusion that multiple rates of income tax, varied dates of making tax returns and a bulky legal tax framework make income tax compliance unforeseeable in Kenya.