KRA issues tax rules on personal effects at international airports

Passengers arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE 

By ANNIE NJANJA anjanja@ke.nationmedia.com

Tuesday, August 9   2016

IN SUMMARY

• KRA has set maximum duty collected on personal effects at Sh50,000 ($500).
• The guidelines come in the wake of complaints lodged by passengers arriving from Dubai and China, saying they are always subjected to extortionist rates unlike their counterpart from America and Europe

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has set maximum duty collected on personal effects at Sh50,000 ($500) in its latest bid to speed up clearance of passengers at the international airports.
The guidelines published last week also details a list of items to be subjected to customs taxes at the arrival and departure terminals.

Basically, all the taxable items attract levies at rates determined by the value of money paid at a foreign country rather than factors such as quality, size, or weight, the guidelines state. 
“The Harmonised Tariff System provides duty rates for virtually every existing item,” KRA said.

The guidelines come in the wake of complaints lodged by passengers arriving from Dubai and China, saying they are always subjected to extortionist rates unlike their counterpart from America and Europe.

The KRA says that passengers departing from Kenya are required to fill in a Temporary Importation Form-P45- to declare items being shipped overseas for repair and the accompanying tools and show the receipt during return as declaration.

Also items bought and carried for business promotional and commercial purposes need to be declared during departure for purposes of taxes on return. Electronics like phones, video recorders and projectors bought while on a trip to Kenya and currency exceeding Sh1 million ($10,000) must also be declared at the customs before departure.

Passengers arriving in Kenya are also required to fill passenger declaration form stating the amount paid for each item including the taxes. Items intended for sale or for use in a business including those coming back to Kenya after they are used commercially, taken abroad for repair and currency above Sh1 million must be declared too.

At the arrival desk a traveller is expected to declare newly acquired items whether they were bought, inherited or gifted and any other items bought exceeding the limits of duty-free shops.

“Duty-free shop articles sold in a customs duty-free shop are free only for the countries in which that shop is located. Therefore, if your acquired articles exceed your personal exemption and allowance, the articles you purchased in customs duty-free shop, whether in the Kenya or abroad, will be subject to customs duty upon entering your destination country,” said KRA.

Household goods such as carpets, paintings, tableware and tools of the trade, professional books and instruments are cushioned from taxes “where minimum conditions are met”.

Donations are also not exempt from taxes unless in situations where a Pro 1B document (mostly accompanying diplomatic goods) and a special letter from the Treasury is produced.

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT AND THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS

August 10, 2016

In Statements and Speeches

Following a consultative meeting between His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Council of Governors led by chairman Governor Peter Munya, the following resolutions have been agreed upon for purposes of maintaining a stable, peaceful and cohesive country in the run–up, during and after the 2017 General Elections:

1. That any person that engages in incitement or hateful speech will have stern action taken against them irrespective of status or position. We must be clear that we shall not balkanize the country for whatever reason or purpose.

That security agencies have been given the full mandate, in terms of existing laws, to deal with perpetrators of hate speech and incitement according to the law.

That particular attention and action will be taken should there be misuse of social media and vernacular broadcasters, and especially radio stations in the propagation of hate speech or incitement.

2. That the security arrangements between the National Government and County Governments will be operationalised through, among other issues, the launch of the County Policing Authority, which coordinates National Government and County Governments on policing issues.

3. That the National Government and the County Governments will collaborate on speedy issuance of National Identification Cards to ensure that all eligible Kenyans have the ID cards and can participate in elections as is their constitutional right.

 

10^th August 2016

State House, Nairobi

Author

GoK

Fake Archbishop 'selling Aldi olive oil as miracle cancer cure'

Gilbert Deya has faced a ten-year battle against extradition to his native Kenya

Picture: Eddie Mulholland/Telegraph

By Victoria Ward 25 Jan 2016

Gilbert Deya claims to have annointed the oil, which costs £1.99 in the supermarket but he sells for £5

A self-proclaimed "Archbishop" is selling olive oil from Aldi as a miracle cure for cancer and HIV, it has been claimed. 

Gilbert Deya, 63, a Kenyan preacher who calls himself the Archbishop of Peckham, is selling the £1.99 750ml budget supermarket product in his church shop in south London for £5, according to The Sun. 

He claims to have "anointed" the oil and suggests that if used on food, it can make cancer "disappear" 

Deya, who runs Gilbert Deya Ministries- which is said to have a UK membership of 36,000 - also claims that he can give infertile couples "miracle babies". 

Gilbert Deya He has faced a ten-year battle against extradition to Kenya, having been accused of being involved in a baby-smuggling operation centred on a Nairobi slum hospital.

The former security guard has claimed he faces torture and inhuman and degrading treatment if sent back to the country, alleging that he is the victim of a political vendetta there.

Undercover reporters posed as a husband and his cancer-stricken wife to infiltrate Deya's church headquarters in a deprived area of Peckham, South London.

The pair were given a badly-spelled leaflet detailing its "mystical powers", including overcoming illness and debt.

One of his associates was then said to have rubbed oil into the woman's chest, declaring: "This is the start of your miracle."

She was pushed to the ground as the pastor shouted that the witchcraft must go.

Asked if he could help them conceive, Deya was alleged to have summoned four children he claimed were born to the same mother at six-monthly intervals as a result of his prayers.

His son Amos reportedly requested a £700 "sacrifice" to help them conceive a "miracle" baby and indicated he expected a huge donation when they had their child.

Deya runs his church from a large unit on an industrial estate on the edge of Peckham, where he also lives.

The Charity Commission is said to be investigating Gilbert Deya Ministries, which accounts show banked £865,620 in donations in 2014 and has another £1million in savings and £2million in properties. 

Although Deya leads the church, he was removed from the charity's board in 2012 amid concerns at how it was being run. 

In 2004, police raided Deya's Nairobi home and took nine children into protective custody. The Deyas claimed that all the children were theirs but DNA tests on Deya's wife Mary showed that six of them were unrelated to her. 

In 2007, she was jailed for two years for stealing a child. 

Deya was arrested in the UK in 2006. The Home Office said it "continues to consider representations" against extradition by his legal team. 

He refused to comment on The Sun investigation saying he did not talk to "evil liars who are confused". 

In 2014, he was cleared of raping and assaulting a woman follower.