Trucks ferrying liquefied petroleum gas from Tanzania have been stuck at the Namanga One-Stop Border Post following a revelation by the Kenya Revenue Authority, saying traders have been underpaying taxes.
This is bound to further the snarl-up of trucks carrying cooking gas at the Namanga border even as the taxman says it would not issue clearance certificates until traders pay the required levies.
The snarl-up could further derail the clearance of perishable foods from Tanzania, highlighting the adverse effects of the standoff.
“The traders have paid taxes, but unfortunately, they are not the taxes they are supposed to be paying under the law. We have given them the assessed taxes, but unfortunately, none of them has paid,” KRA’s Deputy Commissioner Revenue and Regional Coordination, Joseph Kaguru, said on Friday morning.
Further, Mr. Kaguru accused the traders of paying lower taxes on claims the gas originated in Tanzania while shipping it from the Middle East.
A 16 percent value-added tax (VAT) was reintroduced in July last year after it had been zero-rated in June 2016 to lower prices and boost uptake of clean fuel.
Unlike other petroleum products, LPG prices are left to the market forces of supply and demand.