Friday, November 16, 2012
Kenyan athletes take stand against new taxation from the KRA
With the new tax plans from Kenyan Revenue Authority (KRA), leading athletes and even Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga continue to speak out against this new and unwelcome change.
Following the tax demands that were sent out last month, the KRA recently issued a statement reassuring athletes that the new change will not lead to double taxation and will only apply to money earned abroad based on the difference between the rates applicable in countries where they compete and those that are applicable in Kenya. Also, Kenyan athletes will have to submit evidence of tax payments abroad to qualify them as deduction against Kenyan tax liability.
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Prime Minister Raila Odinga recently voiced strong opposition and declared, “It’s a wrong move because the athletes are already taxed whenever they earn after races abroad and taxing them here again will demoralize them”.
Still not convinced that it is the right thing to do, Minister of Sports Ababu Namwamba Stressing the value of Kenyan athletes as ambassadors, he urged consultations with these athletes before going ahead and said:”The tax man should consider all the factors concerning athletes and tax. These are our gallant heroes who have put Kenya on the sporting map and we should not hurry in imposing taxes on them. They are already paying taxes and taxing their proceeds may not go down well.”Considering the number of Kenyan athletes who already race for other countries around the world, this may not be a wise move as it could lead to more and more athletes leaving for greener pastures. Double world long distance champion Abel Kirui, sounded alarm bells when he opined that the new tax plan could contribute to a further exodus of Kenya’s ‘big names’ to other countries. He further commented that despite the lack of support by the government Kenya’s athletes had helped place the country on the world map and KRA’s plans to introduce the tax will be discouraging.
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