By Judith Gicobi
Keroche Breweries Kenya has requested The Revenue Authority (KRA) to grant them an 18-month time frame on its tax arrears.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tabitha Karanja indicated at a news conference on Wednesday that the company is willing to sit at the table with KRA to come up with a more reasonable payment plan.
“Due to the many disruptions, we have gone through since December 2021; we kindly request KRA to give the company 18 months grace period on the taxes in arrears. However, the company will continue paying the current taxes as they fall due,” she stated.
Furthermore, the CEO stated that, in her opinion, the conflicts between KRA and Keroche Breweries were not political, but rather business-related.
“Our humble appeal to the Commissioner-General is to kindly but urgently request the re-opening of our plant to prevent huge losses and enable us to resume production, sales and distribution and most importantly protect and safeguard the livelihoods of thousands of Kenyans employed by the company both directly and indirectly,” she stated.
This is part of the brewer’s petition, which also requested the taxman to restore the factory within seven days or fear laying off 250 workers and losing 2 million liters of beer worth Sh512 million in tanks under fermentation.
She also wanted to clear the air about how much money the firm owes the revenue collection agency, claiming that the KRA is spreading a false narrative about Keroche being a tax evader.
