The Uasin Gishu County administration has rolled out a public sensitization for business operators and landowners to underscore the importance of paying tax on time to enable the county government execute operations.
Speaking on Monday when he flagged off the County Revenue Enhancement Team at the county headquarters in Eldoret, Governor Jonathan Chelilim pointed out that the county had targeted Sh1.4 billion this year and that it looks forward to collecting not less than Sh400 million by Friday March 31, 2023.
“We would like to sensitize the business community and landowners that we need tax to fund our various activities that we have for the county, they should pay tax, land rates, and renew their licences and pay all the required fees on time because we want to ensure compliance,” he said.
He indicated that if the county managed to meet the set target of Sh1.4 billion it would boost its shareable revenue allocation from the national government.
“As a county, we depend on our own revenue source, we had a target of Sh1.4 billion this year and if we get this money, our shareable revenue allocation from the national government will increase. This week alone we are expecting not less than Sh 400 million from tax revenue. There is no room for tax evasion,” said Chelilim.
He noted that the county has a strong compliance team who would be going around across the county up to the ward level to remind people to pay tax before the deadline and to ensure people follow right procedures in paying tax, obtaining permits and licences to operate their businesses.
Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Engineer John Barorot called on the landowners to honour their responsibilities by paying land rates before the deadline on Friday midnight March 31, 2023 to avoid penalties.
“For land rates, let us not wait for waivers in order to pay because by paying tax you will enable the county government to provide its services on time, do not wait until it is too late upon which penalties will be imposed, because as you know by this Friday 31 midnight you will be forced to pay the initial amount plus an additional 50 per cent penalty,” noted Engineer Barorot.
Present during the event were the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Finance and Economic Planning, Micah Rogony and his Trade and Industrialization counterpart Martha Cheruto.
The Revenue Enhancement Team was asked to observe professional code of conduct while on duty and carry out the exercise in a friendly manner to avoid conflicts with the business community.
By Ekuwam Sylvester
