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The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has credited significant reforms in customs and border control for the growth in customs tax revenue.
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Customs tax is levied on goods imported into Kenya.
In a statement, the tax authority announced that customs tax collections for January reached an all-time high of Sh82.5 billion.
“This is a landmark achievement in the history of customs,” said Lilian Nyawanda, the Customs and Border Control commissioner.
The customs sector began the second half of the 2024/2025 fiscal year on a positive note, surpassing its January target of Sh74.4 billion by collecting an extra Sh8.11 billion, reflecting a 110.9 percent performance rate.
This performance represents a 27 percent increase compared to the 4.8 percent growth seen in the first half of the 2024/2025 fiscal year (July-December 2024).
Key reforms at the Customs office that contributed to this revenue growth include the creation of the Centralised Release Operations. Under this system, release officers are assigned to a centralized location and randomly given customs declarations to process, which has led to a more impartial and efficient release process, enhancing risk management and revenue collection efforts.
Another factor behind the strong revenue growth was an 11.6 percent increase in non-petroleum taxes compared to January 2024.
Petroleum taxes also performed well, growing by 55.9 percent compared to the same period last year. This growth was driven primarily by a 6.6 percent increase in overall oil volumes, with substantial increases in petrol (89.7 percent) and diesel (65.0 percent). As a result, several tax categories, including VAT on oil, excise duty on oils, and fuel levies (PDL, RML, PRL, and RDL), performed above target.
Nyawanda emphasized that these results reflect KRA’s ongoing commitment to enhancing revenue mobilization and meeting revenue targets, which contributes to the growth and stability of Kenya’s economy.
