(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy THE CAMPUS LADY MAGAZINE)
Property tax was first introduced in Kenya in 1900 in Mombasa, and the basis used was the annual rental value. In 1901, the tax was introduced in Nairobi using the same basis as Mombasa. In those years, few properties were developed.
Later on, in 1928 unimproved site value rating was applied. Dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, Kenya fully adopted a land value taxation that was influenced by the British colonial administration as it is presently practiced. Before independence 1963, the city of Nairobi accumulated 45 per cent of its revenue from rates. The revenue collected from rates continued to increase slowly until the period 2013-2015 when it began to decrease.
The property tax has been a contributive source of income to the Kenyan local authorities. It was only recently that the contribution of property tax has been surpassed by personal income tax and other taxes on goods and services.
