[kictanet] KRA's radical plan to catch tax cheats

[Ali Hussein]

Ngugi

Can't agree with you more. That's why I said that KRA's move to expand the Tax Bracket is commendable. The current thinking about how to go about it is what's slippery. Let's take your bank information analogy one step further:-

In the world of AML (Anti Money Laundering) Compliance and prudential rules there is something called False Positives. This basically means the AML Software flags suspicious names that may have been flagged globally due to similarities with known jihadi/ISIL/AlShabaab etc type groups. Names like:-

1. Obama - too similar to Osama :-)
2. Hussein - Relative to Saddam Hussein :-) 
3.  Abu-Bakr - namesake to ISIL Leader

I can go on but you get the drift. The reason why there's no blanket flag and why there's a so called 'white list' is exactly why government's don't have a blanket rule to scrutinize all bank accounts.  

I support the expansion of the Tax Bracket by innovative means. I'd just be careful not to trod on personal liberties and privacy. 

Ali Hussein
Principal
Hussein & Associates
+254 0713 601113 / 0770906375

Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim


"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi

Sent from my iPad

> On 11 May 2016, at 12:24 AM, Ngigi Waithaka via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> 
> Listers,
> This is very very dicey...
> Collecting data on our Mpesa Transactions is akin to KRA collecting data on our Bank Transactions.
> 
> That is simply not allowed en'masse, unless by a court order. Put it this way, there's no way KRA can get a data feed from *all* the banks on our financial transactions and hence this extends to MPesa et.al
> 
> Why? If you have my entire financial records then you know just about  *everything* about me such as where I am at any one time, where I eat, where I take my kids to school, friends I associate with, girlfriends, boyfriends, medical history etc
> 
> Basically *everything* that violates my rights to privacy and that's why there is a process that has to be followed to get such information.
> 
> Sent from Nylas N1, the extensible, open source mail client.
>> On May 10 2016, at 2:10 pm, Grace Mutung'u (Bomu) via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: 
>> Listers, 
>> 
>> KRA is targeting mobile money as part of the agency’s financial data gathering scheme that is meant to monitor businesses and individuals who are not paying their fair share of taxes.
>> 
>> People familiar with the plan said the taxman is at an advanced stage of rolling out a number crunching mechanism that will use electronic data to suggest incomes of those using mobile money to pay bills and make purchases.
>> 
>> Full article here: http://www.nation.co.ke/business/KRA-radical-plan-to-catch-tax-cheats/-/996/3196496/-/brq96h/-/index.html
>> 
>> -- 
>> Grace L.N. Mutung'u 
>> Nairobi Kenya
>> Skype: gracebomu
>> Twitter: @Bomu
>> 
>> <http://www.diplointernetgovernance.org/profile/GraceMutungu>
>> 
>> PGP ID : 0x33A3450F
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