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{
    "id": 602774,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/602774/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 714,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Katoo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 199,
        "legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
        "slug": "judah-ole-metito"
    },
    "content": "The Bill also provides for a dispute resolution mechanism. Should a dispute arise between the Commissioner and the tax payer, redress can be sought through a tribunal, the High Court and also the Court of Appeal. It also allows for settlement of cases outside the court or tribunal. Clauses 49 to 57 of the Bill are very clear. These sections deal with making tax decisions by tax collectors. That means there is room objection to those decisions and appeals against tax decisions. The process is a bit involved but is simplified. The Bill begins with making a tax decision by the Commissioner, an objection by the Commissioner, decision and then an appeal to a tribunal, and a further appeal on a justifiable ground to the High Court. It also makes provision for the procedure to be followed when filing an objection or an appeal against a tax decision. Part VIII of the Bill, which has Clauses 49 to 57, talks about sorting out disputes. The Bill also provides for a mechanism of enforcement of tax laws. This includes providing powers to the Commissioner to search and seize documents, which give access to official information held by individuals, the national Government, the county governments or any other public bodies for tax purposes to the Commissioner. That is really detailed in Clauses 4 to 7. Some sections of those clauses talk about powers and functions of the Commissioner and the Commissioner’s authorised officers. In the plenary interpretation, the Bill talks of an authorised officer as a Commissioner of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) or any appointed person by the Commissioner for that purpose. It talks about their powers and functions. One of the powers of these authorised officers is having police powers when exercising their duties. The same Clauses 4 to 7 talk of delegation and how the Commissioner-General can delegate powers to the authorised officers. It clearly says that any delegation given should be in writing. That will have a lot of weight. It also talks of confidentiality by the authorised officers. There must be confidentiality between the taxpayer and the entity itself. To summarise, that section talks about functions, delegations, confidentiality and powers of authorised officers. The Bill also talks of the penalties for failure to comply with the provisions of the tax laws. These include penalties relating to failure to comply with the registration or licencing requirements, failure to keep documents, late submission of returns, avoiding paying tax and failure to comply with electronic tax system. That is a very detailed area covered by Clauses 80 to 109. It will be of interest for Hon. Members to look very keenly at Clauses 80 to 109. That section talks of administrative penalties and offences. There are so many offences, including The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}