Airtel partners with Kenya Revenue Authority to allow for tax payments on mobile

Airtel Kenya has partnered with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). The partnership will make it possible for Kenyan citizens to make tax payments of up to KES 140 000 per day through the Airtel Money Service.

The taxman is strict, some may even go on to say that at times mean, unnecessarily so. Either way the universal agreement is that however passionate you want to cheat on someone, let it not, even if the feeling is strong, be the taxman. It has been proven over and over again that nobody cheats the taxman and gets away with it. But giving the taxman what is due to him is an elaborate process. Often one has to stand in long queues or beat the queues by sleeping at the door of taxman’s house. Neither of the two ways are desirable.

That is about to change, at least, for Kenyans citizens.

Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi stressed the importance of the partnership and how this is another attempt by Airtel to improve convenience of payments for the company’s customers.

“Airtel will continue to partner with corporate and government entities as it seeks to revolutionize its services and more importantly provide customers with convenient, fast and secure options of transacting on Airtel Money,” he said

According to Airtel, this partnership will allow customers across Kenya to inquire for KRA services, generate KRA payment reference numbers and make quick payments through Airtel Money.

What this partnership also makes possible, which could be its biggest function, is that it severely cuts the distance people have to walk to KRA offices to queue for hours to pay their tax.

Airtel, aware that paying a tax is serious business, has assured taxpayers who will use the service that their payments will be cleared, processed and credited to the KRA account in real-time.

All services to be paid for require a KRA payment reference number (PRN or an e-slip/invoice number), which can either be acquired on its website or via mobile phone.