EFFECT OF TAX POLICY REFORMS ON NATIONAL PUBLIC REVENUE GROWTH IN KENYA

Abstract

KRA has been allocated more budgetary support to enhance pay structures of revenue Officers, attract and retain professional staff as well as establishing structures for identifying and dismissing incompetent and corrupt staff. This was necessary since efficient revenue collection was seen as a means to lower Government borrowing and easing pressure on inflation and interest rates as well as increasing Government revenues to meet both recurrent and capital expenditure. This study focused on measures undertaken by KRA to bring reforms that have enhanced National public revenue growth in the recent few years. Kenya’s effectiveness indicators suggest that whilst the tax effort is high, there is potential to increase tax revenue collection as a percentage of GDP by reducing tax gap. The specific objective was to; effect of tax enforcement, Descriptive research design was used. The scope of the study was KRA’s five (5) regional offices namely; Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru,Nyeri and Kisumu. The target population was 562 where a sample of 157 respondents was drawn using stratified random sampling technique. Primary data was collected using questionnaires which were both closed ended and open ended. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics were used and multiple regression analysis was run to predict the role tax enforcement, The study found that KRA tax reforms influence National public revenue growth in Kenya. Tax enforcement reforms in KRA should be improved and upgraded to suit both government and citizens. A good tax system should be responsive to economic growth. The research findings were expected to benefit KRA as well as other Government collection agents.