The High Court has ordered Keroche Breweries Limited to pay Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Ksh500Million for the taxman to lift the agency notice issued to the company’s banks.
Keroche had moved to court on March 13, protesting a ruling by the tax tribunal that gave the authority the leeway to demand Ksh9.1 billion from the company alleging that the company had failed to remit its taxes amounting to the quoted Ksh9.1 billion for Vienna Ice, an alcoholic drink manufactured by the Naivasha based brewer.
The taxman is now dismissing claims that it has been ordered to back down on its demands saying that the High Court ruled there shall be a stay of further enforcement of any collection of taxes ensuing from the decision of the Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT).
Reports had indicated that the authority had been barred from freezing the brewer’s accounts held at Equity Bank and Absa.
“The court ruled….. the stay shall be on condition that the appellant pays Ksh500Million within the next 30 days in default of which the order of stay shall lapse without any further order,” says the taxman in a statement.
According to KRA, the court also directed the appellant (Keroche) to file and serve its record of appeal within 30 days from the date of the court hearing.
TAT was directed to furnish the typed copies of the judgement to all the parties within 48 hours and typed proceedings within seven days from the day of the court hearing.
The case will be mentioned on 23rd April 2020.
On Monday, the taxman threatened five banks with multi-billion penalties over dealings with Keroche raising eyebrows on whether the authority is abusing its power.
KRA ordered the banks to transfer the cash in Keroche’s bank accounts to the agency’s coffers and further warned the lenders that they would pay the Ksh 9 billion if they failed to transfer the order.
Al this while, Keroche has maintained its innocence and has held its ground that it does not owe KRA any dues.
