5 Things KRA Can Do To Improve its iTax System

The iTax system is part of the plans of the government to digitize services. The deadline to file taxes was Tuesday June 30th but it ended up being extended to Sunday 5th July as the system was down and Kenyans complained about having difficulty accessing the site. I was one of those Kenyans and ended up being able to file my returns today. Here are 5 things I think KRA should work on as far as iTax is concerned to make sure some of these issues don’t come up next year.

1. Tax Education

KRA should focus less on penalizing and more on educating Kenyans. They have been educating Kenyans on the system over the last couple of months but I feel that Kenyans need education on basic tax rules as well. A number of people I know especially upcountry are not aware that they’re supposed to file their returns as they believe tax is an issue of the employed and the rich. It’s important for KRA to provide tax education to all Kenyans so that these misconceptions and misunderstandings are eradicated.

2. User friendly interface

The interface is not good to look at. Yes, it may play into the practicality of the point of the site but that just because it’s about tax doesn’t mean it should be ugly. The site also needs to incorporate functions like ‘hint’ and perhaps a help function that gives assistance in case you are stuck.

3. Streamlined site

The site feels rigid. The income options available are only employment, business and rental. This is incredibly limiting as a number of Kenyans are freelancers especially in the creative industry. In that case, you’re not employed and you don’t own a business so where do you fit? This is an indication of a system that is stuck in the past and doesn’t take the present job descriptions into consideration.

Another thing is the fact that you must download the returns form. The downloading of the form should be optional. Once the site issues are fixed, it will be nice for those who have good internet to be have the option to work on the form online to avoid the extra step of uploading the form.

4. Last mile connectivity

You cannot discontinue an offline system in favour of an online system and not create avenues for people to access it. You are effectively criminalizing people who would otherwise be compliant. Even as we move on to online access of government services, the offline services must remain robust considering that a majority of Kenyans don’t have access to this site. If it’s difficult for me, I can only imagine how much more difficult it is for Kenyans outside Nairobi.