The Kenya Revenue Authority has collected over Sh 21 billion from its Alternative Disputes Resolution mechanism.
This is after KRA resolved 393 ADR cases in July 2020 to March 2021 financial year.
This positive trajectory is marked by a 109 per cent growth in the number of cases and 389 per cent growth in revenue unlocked this financial year 2020/2021 when compared to a similar period last financial year.
The Tax Procedures Act provides that under the ADR framework, disputes should be resolved within 90 days.
This is to ensure that disputes are resolved in an expeditious and timeous manner. Although the law allows for 90 days, resolution of cases under ADR can be achieved in a much shorter time span.
Unlike other dispute resolution mechanisms, ADR is pocket friendly as it does not require payment of any filing fees.
It is a mediation process in which a taxpayer can opt to represent himself without the need for an Advocate or a tax representative.
Despite the current Covid-19 pandemic related challenges, resolution of disputes through ADR has remained unhampered as meetings are conducted virtually.
This has further reduced the time within which the meetings are held.
The average time taken to resolve ADR cases has been reduced from 89 days in Financial Year 2019/2020 to 42 days in the current financial year 2020/2021.
In the current financial year, KRA recorded a 56 per cent growth in the number of ADR applications from 425 received in the financial year 2019/2020 to 661.