PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy Daily Nation
By
Edwin Okoth
Kenya is losing up to Sh62 billion every year in taxes as companies and individuals use tax loopholes to avoid paying their pound of flesh.
International corporate tax abuse and private tax evasion is bleeding the country close to half its health budget an amount it can use to pay more than 250,000 nurses for a whole year according to the Tax Justice Network.
The November report says the country ranks poorly in managing financial secrecy, affording evaders an opportunity to get away with money that can be put into better use.
The country was ranked seven in Africa for providing conducive ground for tax evasion with its laws and financial systems being programmed to abet global corporate tax abuse and financial secrecy.
The loophole seems to be working against the East African economic giant that now loses more than what Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ghana bleed combined.
TJN chief executive Alex Cobman said such systems that allow for massive tax losses are not broken by mistake but programmed to work in the same manner.
“Under pressure from corporate giants and tax haven powers like the Netherlands and the UK’s network, our governments have programmed the global tax system to prioritise the desires of the wealthiest corporations and individuals over the needs of everybody else,” Mr Cobman said.
