.@KeEquityBank parent company, Equity Group Holdings Ltd (EGHL) has won an Sh800M tax dispute against @KRACare. KRA was demanding the money as capital gains tax from asset transfers by the lender in 2014. - @StandardKenya
However, commercial Court judge John Mativo allowed Equity’s appeal after finding that the commissioner of domestic taxes failed to render his decision within the timelines set by the law.
The lender had lost its case before the Tax Appeals Tribunal. Justice Mativo ruled that Parliament set 60 days as the deadline for the commissioner to either allow or dismiss an objection.
The judge was of the view that although the tribunal correctly tabulated the time, it erred by extending the time beyond 60 days.
In this case, EGHL asserted that it never benefited from transferring its assets to Equity Bank Kenya Ltd (EBKL), but KRA insisted the former gained Sh34b, which ought to be taxed.
In this case, the lender argued that KRA erroneously tabulated the capital gains tax and wrongly affixed January 14, 2015, as the day the transfer was completed.
It is a common ground that the transaction involved the transfer of the banking business from the respondent (EGHL) to a new subsidiary Equity Bank Kenya Ltd so that the respondent becomes a non-operating holding company of the Equity Group of Companies - Equity lawyers.
Capital gains tax is levied on the transfer of properties or assets situated in Kenya. The tax was reintroduced after nearly 30 years following an amendment in the 2014 Finance Act.
It took effect on January 1, 2015. Equity’s holding company faulted the Tax Tribunal, arguing that it erred in finding that it had profited from transferring its assets to EBKL.
Following the @NAssemblyKE's amendment of the Banking Act in 2013 and providing for non-operating holding companies, Equity hived down its Kenyan business, assets, and liabilities to a newly incorporated subsidiary - Equity Bank Kenya Ltd (EBKL).
This was approved by both @CBKKenya and @CMAKenya. CBK gazetted the restructuring transaction on December 30, 2014, which was to take effect the following day.
This would mark the beginning of Equity Group’s problems with the taxman. KRA assessed the capital gains tax it claimed Equity owed it from the transaction and slapped it with an Sh820m bill.
The decision was communicated to Equity on October 10, 2016. But the lender objected to the move, saying the taxman was not entitled to the tax as the transaction occurred before January 1, 2015.
EBKL, the court heard, started serving walk-in customers on January 2, 2015, which could not have happened if the banking assets had not been transferred to it on the immediate preceding working day, which was on December 31, 2014.
A @NPSOfficial_KE officer who had been declared a deserter after missing from work since January has resurfaced. Constable Rueben Kimutai Lel had been comatose at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) for 9mths+ without the knowledge of his family or friends. - @NationAfrica
A warrant of arrest was issued in January at the Makadara Law Courts after Mr Kimutai failed to return to work after going on leave in December last year.
Mr Kimutai, who was stationed at Jogoo Road Police Station, had been seconded to the Judiciary as an orderly at the Makadara Law Courts.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has received yet another blow in court after a judge quashed his decision to co-opt Nairobi Metropolitan Services @NMS_Kenya Director-General Mohamed Badi into the Cabinet. - @NationAfrica
Justice Anthony Mrima declared that the President's decision was in contravention of the Constitution, illegal and void 'ab initio' (from the beginning).
While ruling on a petition filed by Kandara MP Alice Wahome, an ally-turned foe of President Kenyatta, the judge also issued an order of prohibition barring Major-General Badi from attending any Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meetings, or discharging any functions of the Cabinet.
Since its development eight years ago, the revolutionary banking product has witnessed a spontaneous status elevation in an era of a pandemic that necessitates mobile transactions
If Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney decided to sack all corrupt workers at her ministry, then she would have almost no one left to serve Kenyans. - @NationAfrica
The Lands CS is bang in the middle of converting millions of dusty, worn out papers that Kenyans treasure as title deeds into credible digital documents that can be used as evidence of property ownership and underwrite billions of shillings worth of transactions across Kenya.
Ms Karoney, therefore, needs the honest input of each and every worker at Ardhi House, the Lands ministry headquarters in Nairobi, but the corruption cartels are out to sabotage her efforts.
It was a sharp contrast to three years ago, when MPs jeered him for bulldozing through a vote that imposed the levy on petroleum products.
In a stormy session on September 20, 2018, the government side pushed through the President’s @StateHouseKenya memorandum that imposed 8% VAT on petroleum products, which MPs now want to scrap in response to a public uproar.
.@SafaricomPLC has been recognized as a Global Compact LEAD participant for its continued commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and its Ten Principles for responsible business. - @HapaKenya
.@SafaricomPLC was identified as being among the most highly engaged participants of the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. This is the 4th time since 2018 that the company has been included in the prestigious list
LEAD companies represent highest level of engagement with @globalcompact. More than ever before, the world needs businesses of all sizes,.... that continuously work to improve their sustainability performance and take action to build a better world. - @SandaOjiambo