Tax Administration Reforms in Kenya Identifying Lessons to Model a Strategy for Sustainable Administration of County Taxes

Gichuki, Evanson Njaramba (2015) Tax Administration Reforms in Kenya Identifying Lessons to Model a Strategy for Sustainable Administration of County Taxes. PhD thesis, University of Nairobi.

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Abstract

The several tax administration reforms undertaken in Kenya do not exhibit a discernible methodology. There is no clear, deliberate and integrated reform mechanism to avoid haphazard implementation of reforms. With this background, implementation of county tax administration is bound to be haphazard, and without measurable expectations. The problems at the national tax administration will inevitably be devolved to the counties. A number of the past tax administration reform efforts have mainly been donor-led (IMF, World Bank, DFID, etc.), largely intended to tackle neopatrimonialism in governance in Kenya, as in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. The devolved system of government is a creation of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. As such, the legal regime for county tax administration is lacking. There is no literature specific to the Kenyan situation. There is no history to learn from. Towards solving the problem, this study conducted research on national level tax administration reform together with insights from other jurisdictions. It also considered the tax administration structures under the previous system of local government. Taxation is largely local and therefore national experiences are better sources of solutions for county taxation than experiences from other jurisdictions. The reforms at the national level have shown that neopatrimonialism is unlikely to be a key issue in tax administration reform. County tax administration largely deals with property tax and entertainment tax. There is need to take cognisance of the overridding principle contained in Article 209(5) of the Constitution. In the course of formulating a strategy for property tax administration, the sustainability should be tested against the effective rate of property tax (ERPT). This study has suggested the need to undertake several law reform measures to guide county tax administration reforms. This entails the amendment of the Constitution, the repeal and amendment of several Acts of Parliament, the enactment of a new Act of Parliament, the enactment of several county legislation and the formulation of a specific policy paper. All this should be geared towards administering the subnational taxes in a sustainable manner taking cognisance of the tax culture, with minimal cultural lags and shocks to achieve the intentions of the framers of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. Key words: tax administration, tax administration reform, county tax administration, county tax administration strategy

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General) K Law > K Law (General)
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Mr Nahum Osman
Date Deposited:	24 Oct 2016 12:03
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2016 12:03
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/973

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