(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy NATION)
By
Leonard Wanyama
What you need to know:
- Singapore and Mauritius are among the top 20 most secretive, aggressive and extensive jurisdictions that help multinationals escape paying taxes.
- DTAs may also serve as a channel for tax avoidance.
- Kenya has pursued 48 DTAs since Independence, 14 of them in recent times.
A most perturbing government initiatives is the pursuit of double taxation agreements (DTAs) without an implementation policy. This leaves the country exposed to the risk of having its domestic revenue mobilisation efforts undermined by illicit financial flows, especially when negotiated with known tax havens. Recently, the National Treasury asked for public submissions on a DTA with Singapore and has been actively working to operationalise another with Mauritius that had been held up by a court case filed by Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA).
