Kenya to Deploy AI System for Tax Collection Within Two Years – Ndii
KENYA is getting ready for a pretty big shake up in the way it collects taxes. The government has just announced plans to bring in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automate taxation over the next couple of years.
The move, according to Presidential Council of Economic Advisors big cheese David Ndii, is a sign that we’re leaving the old manual systems behind and moving into the digital age where efficiency and a wider tax base will be possible.
Speaking to stakeholders on 31st October, Ndii let it be known that AI will soon be taking over a big chunk of the Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) work.
“One year or two and most of the tax collection will be done by computers not people. This is a pretty big change. We can’t do taxes the old way anymore” , Ndii said. “From now on, its computers not people doing the tax collection”
He said the reason Kenya is going this route is because of how widespread digital finance is, especially mobile money, and how this gives a unique opportunity to integrate automated tax systems across all sorts of sectors.
NDii pointed out that one of the main drivers of this change is that manual tax collection has been pretty inefficient, especially in the informal sector where collecting small amounts of tax has been a real pain.
“We couldnt even bother to collect small amounts of tax because the admin would be too much hassle” , he said. “But now we can just do it behind the scenes no problem at all”
Ndii explained that Ruto’s administration is building machine learning systems which will be able to do automatic tax assessments. As these systems get more advanced, the KRA will have a smaller role – basically its going to go from enforcement to just looking after the tech.
On top of all this, Ndii said they also plan to sort out the way value-added tax (VAT) is distributed. He pointed out that the current system is a bit of a joke and mainly benefits manufacturers as opposed to consumers, leading to all sorts of complicated refund processes.
“If we give the manufacturer a tax break, we’re expecting them to pass it on to consumers, but what actually happens is there’s loads of trouble with VAT refunds , he said. ” But the thing is with tech now, we can actually give VAT refunds to the consumer directly. Not to you if you’re not a taxpayer though.”
The AI-driven overhaul is part of the Ruto administration’s broader plans to get things digital and make it easier to collect taxes and less intrusive.
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Kenya to Deploy AI System for Tax Collection Within Two Years – Ndii