The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has blinked first in the tax dispute with Keroche Breweries, agreeing to meet company officials to address the standoff.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Wednesday evening, Keroche boss Tabitha Karanja said KRA Commissioner-General Githii Mburu had contacted the firm to propose a meeting, which is expected to help resolve a tax dispute that has been brewing for months.
“They’ve called us for a meeting and I really appreciate the commissioner-general. So we will have a meeting tomorrow (Thursday) and we just hope this thing will bring everything to a rest,” Ms Karanja said, adding that the invitation came from Mr Githii’s office on Wednesday afternoon.
Ms Karanja said that while she had been in communication with Mr Mburu over the tax dispute, things escalated around December when KRA started shutting down Keroche’s operations.
“(At the) meeting, I believe, we will agree and see how we will open our plant. They can save the 250 jobs and the beer that is in the tanks,” Ms Karanja said.
But even as she expressed optimism, she was quick to point out that the series of closures of the plant since December 7 had dealt a big blow to the brewer, weakening its ability to immediately settle the tax arrears.
“Because of the many closures and disruptions by them since December, we’ve worked less than 20 days in the three months. We are now requesting a grace period for the taxes that are in arrears but going forward, taxes that fall due, of course, we will pay,” she said, estimating that it would take about a year for the firm to get back on its feet.
While KRA said in a statement on Tuesday that the brewer owes more than Sh22 billion, Ms Karanja insisted that the agency’s demands relate to backdated taxes that Keroche never collected. She added that KRA erred by classifying products in the tax brackets in which they were taxed over those years. BY DAILY NATION