KRA Dismisses Claims Govt Shut Down M-Pesa To Integrate Tax System

• Safaricom M-Pesa services experienced delays for the better part of Tuesday morning, affecting thousands of customers
• Kenyans took to social media to express their disappointments, with some claiming the government caused the delay in integrating its tax system
• However, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) dismissed the claims, terming them as fake news

TUKO.co.ke journalist Wycliffe Musalia brings over five years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting, offering deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.

Kenya Revenue Authority has distanced itself from claims that it shut down M-Pea to integrate the tax system.

Safaricom PLC mobile money services were disrupted for about an hour on Tuesday, January 9, leading a standoff among its millions of customers.

What Kenyans said about KRA and M-Pesa delay

The unexpected delay triggered a wave of comments across social media platforms, with some Kenyans claiming that it was part of the government scheme to integrate its tax system into M-Pesa.

@Asamoh wrote:

"Government has shut down M-pesa via Safaricom to integrate it with KRA system. That's why M-Pesa is down."

Another user identified as Njohi noted that the government was integrating the KRA system during the M-Pesa shutdown.

"Integration of M-Pesa with your KRA PIN currently happening."

These and many other posts saw the taxman stand up to defend its integrity, terming them as fake news.

"Kindly be advised that this is fake news."

More than 30 million M-Pesa customers were unable to complete transactions for about an hour.

KRA makes businesses avoid using M-Pesa

Many businesses using the Lipa Na M-Pesa services and those relaying other M-Pesa services halted transactions.

In September 2023, KRA deployed 1,400 revenue service assistants with paramilitary training, a move aimed at bolstering tax compliance among traders.

Business owners, reacting to the increased scrutiny on mobile merchant payment accounts, opted for alternative payment methods, citing over-taxation.

Is KRA planning to monitor mobile money?

This followed plans by the authority to integrate its systems with telecommunication firms to monitor their real-time transactions.

In an announcement made in August 2023 was aimed at collecting data on mobile money transactions by merchants using services such as Lipa Na M-Pesa.

The taxman said it will take the initiative in a bid to meet President William Ruto's target of collecting every shilling due to tax revenue.