Govt Orders All New Phone IMEIs to be Connected to KRA Portal for Tax Compliance

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has given directives that starting November 1, all new mobile phones manufactured locally or imported into the country for sale will have to be registered by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) or will risk being shut down.

According to the CA, this move will monitor tax compliance of manufacturers and distributors of new mobile phones. Mobile phone devices that are already in use in the Kenyan market will not be affected by the directive. 

The authority further noted that under the directive, local assemblers, importers, retailers, wholesalers, and mobile network operators will be required to submit the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number for every mobile device to the KRA portal.

Read also: JSS Teachers to Wait Longer as Treasury Pushes Employment to 2025

“The new requirements will only apply to all devices imported or assembled in the country from November 1st, 2024. All existing devices that will be on the Mobile Networks by 31st October 2024 will not be affected,” said the CA statement in part."

All local device assemblies and mobile phone importers (sale, testing, research, or any other purpose) must upload the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) Number of each assembled device to the KRA-provided portal," CA said.

The authority stated that retailers and wholesalers must ensure they exclusively sell or distribute mobile devices that meet tax compliance requirements.

“Retailers and wholesalers of mobile devices must ensure that they only retail or distribute mobile devices that are tax compliant.”

Read also: KRA Goes After Cryptocurrency Transactions in New Tax Strategy

‍
Mobile network operators have been directed by the authority to ensure they connect only those devices to their networks that have been verified as tax compliant through a whitelist database, which will be provided by the authority.

The authority said that the requirements will apply for all mobile phone devices in Kenya with effect from January 1st, 2025.

This comes days after the government announced plans of converting all paybill and till numbers into electronic tax registers (ETRs) by December 25, 2024, in a bid to catch tax evaders.

The move targets traders who rely on mobile transfer money platforms such as M-PESA and mobile banking apps.