Football club protests after taxman asks it to pay up or risk being slapped with fines.
After asking Kenyan athletes to pay taxes, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has turned its
attention to local clubs.
League champions Gor Mahia has been hit with a Sh.118 million income tax demand
note, a move that could easily bring down the club, especially after it lost a key sponsor
last month.
The cub currently has no shirt sponsor after Tuzo withdrew their Sh.29 million-a-year
support.
The taxman wrote to Gor Mahia last week demanding that the club pays the said
amount or risk being slapped with fines.
The letter from KRA is copied to Kenyan Premier League (KPL), the custodian of
broadcast sponsorship money from SuperSport.
Gor Mahia Secretary General Chris Omondi confirmed they have received the demand
note and have even held a meeting with the taxman. A second meeting is expected to
be held next week.
“Our position is that Gor Mahia is a society are therefore is not supposed to pay taxes.
On the question of income tax, it is a very tricky area and we are asking why only Gor
Mahia has been asked to pay such an amount of money.
“We have also demanded an explanation as to how the figure was arrived at because it
looks like there was a lot of estimations. We are having a second meeting and hopefully
it can be explained to us,” said Omondi.
Omondi further revealed that the letter from KRA, which was also sent to their former
sponsors Tuzo, forced them to withhold the players’ salaries.
KPL Chief Executive Jack Oguda said he was aware of the new development and had
convened a meeting with Gor Mahia officials on Wednesday to discuss the way forward.
“We do not know how the figure has been arrived at and have scheduled a meeting with
Gor Mahia officials to discuss the matter,” said Oguda.
FORMER ATHLETES
Oguda said last year, AFC Leopards were also asked to pay Sh.4 million tax I tax areas by
the KRA.
At the beginning of the year, KRA issued demand notes to various top athletes to pay
taxes.
The move was widely criticised by the athletes and some even threatened to boycott
representing the country in major events.
The taxman, however, received backing from two former athletes who asked their
colleagues to co-operate.
The 1991 World 10,000m champion Moses Tanui and the man who won the 5,000m at
the same championship, Yobes Ondieki, said paying taxes is a responsibility of all citizens
and all should comply.
he two told the runners to demand improvement of the dilapidated sporting facilities
to justify the payment of the taxes.
T
“We all understand the important role that sport is playing to market the country. It is
a nobble duty and should be appreciated by all. But when it comes to paying taxes, it is
the responsibility of all of us,” said Tanui, who has won the Boston Marathon twice.
Tanui and Ondieki, who was a 10,000m world record holder, advised