Taxation of SACCOs and Cooperatives in Kenya.

Tax is one of the major areas that organizations need to consider while in operation, since failure to give this the desired attention might result in significant business risk. In the recent past, tax authorities have been very deliberate in passing legislation to enforce compliance among SACCOs, at the same time they have increased compliance audits and reviews to ensure that more SACCOs are brought into the tax bracket and are contributing to the country’s tax revenue.

We have also witnessed a series of various tax rulings informing and changing the landscape for taxation for SACCOs. Most SACCOs still lack the information and the necessary capabilities in managing this aspect of the business and are therefore confronted with an imminent risk of tax penalties and interest, should the Commissioner consider a tax audit or review of the operations.

It is against this backdrop that we at Ronalds LLP have developed this handbook in order to create awareness, help build on capacities and capabilities for SACCOs, and offer alternatives for SACCO management and top leadership in navigating the tax affairs in a more appropriate way. This will help those charged with governance and financial aspect of the SACCOs to be able to assess the tax risks exhaustively, consider the risk management options at their disposal and develop formidable tax planning models for their organizations.