Top institutions like Safaricom, US media giant Bloomberg, and University of Nairobi face auction of some of their imported goods over unpaid taxes.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in a gazette notice dated October 29 said the firms will lose goods ranging from electronics, power cables, and conference materials to T-shirts in December 1 if the unpaid taxes are not settled.
The taxman warned the firms, including profitable firms like Brookside, Unga Limited and Chloride Exide, to clear the goods and the unpaid taxes within 30 days.
Others whose goods face the auctioneers hammer are Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and energy regulator– Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), which will lose 11 kilogrammes of shirts, fleece jackets, backpacks and a T-shirts.
“Interested buyers may view the goods at the customs warehouse, JKIA, on November 29-30, 2021 during office hours,” read the notice ahead of the December 1 auction.
The auction comes in a period when KRA has stepped up auction of goods held at its custom offices in the race to meet its tax collection targets.
Media giant Bloomberg, which is owned by billionaire US businessman and presidential contender Michael Bloomberg, is yet to clear half a kilogramme of UPS cards and power cables for its Nairobi bureau.
Safaricom, Kenya’s most profitable firm, will lose 0.6 kg of undisclosed electronic devise. Brookside diaries, which is part owned by the Kenyatta family, risks losing 1.3 kg equipment for processing milk and other dairy products.
One kilogramme of award plaques belonging to cash-strapped University of Nairobi (UoN) faces the auction’s hammer, as does 4.5kg of conference room kits imported by Unga Limited.
Businesses have cited the difficulties experienced owing to Covid-19 among reasons they have been taking longer than usual to clear their goods at the port
