Confidentiality
(1) The Commissioner or an authorised person shall, in relation to the administration of a tax law, protect the confidentiality of the documents or information obtained in the course of administering the tax law.
(2) Despite subsection (1), the Commissioner or an authorised officer may disclose documents or information obtained in the course of administering a tax law to-
- (a) another authorised officer for the purposes of carrying out any duty arising under a tax law;
- (b) an authorised customs officer for the purposes of carrying out any duty under a law related to customs;
- (c) the Tribunal or a court to the extent necessary for the purposes of any proceedings under a tax law;
- (d) the Director-General of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics for the performance of the Director-General’s official duties;
- (e) the Auditor-General for the performance of the Auditor General’s official duties;
- (f) a competent authority of the government of a foreign country or an international organization with which Kenya has entered into an agreement which provides for the exchange of information to the extent permitted under that agreement; or
- (g) the Authority responsible for investigation of corruption and matters related to the integrity of public officers;
- (h) any other institution
the ofof the government of Kenya for the purposes of performance of the duties of that institution; (Finance Act, 2017 Effective 1st January 2018) - (i) any other person with the written consent of the person to whom the documents or information relate.
(3) Subsection (1) shall apply to a person receiving documents or information under subsection (2) as if the person were an authorised officer.
(4) In this section, “authorised officer” includes any person engaged by the Authority in any capacity and includes a director or former director of the Authority, or a former authorised officer or employee of the Authority.
International tax agreements.
(1) Any multilateral agreements and treaties that have been entered into by or on behalf of the Government of Kenya relating to international tax compliance and prevention of evasion of tax or exchange of information on tax matters shall have effect in the manner stipulated in such agreements or
treaties.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other written law, the information obtained pursuant to agreements specified under subsection (1) shall not be disclosed except in accordance with the conditions specified in the agreements.
(3) Any multilateral agreement or treaty that has been entered into by or on behalf of the Government of Kenya relating to mutual administrative assistance in the collection of taxes shall have effect in the manner stipulated in such agreement or treaty. (Finance Act 2023 wef 1st-July-2023 s50)
(4*) A provision in any multilateral agreement or treaty that has been entered into by or on behalf of the Government of Kenya, or made pursuant to such agreement or treaty, relating to the imposition of import duty on—
(a)imported steel billets of tariff heading 7207.11.00; and
(b)imported wire rods of tariff headings 7213.91.00 and 7213.91.90,
shall not apply for a period of two years from the commencement of this subsection, or for such other longer period as the Cabinet Secretary may, by notice in the Gazette, prescribe. (TPAA 2024 wef 27th December, 2024 S2*)
Common reporting standard obligations.
(1) In this section—
- “common reporting standard” means the reporting and due diligence standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information;
- “financial institution” means a custodial institution, a depository institution, an investment entity or a specified insurance company; and
- “Kenyan financial institution” means—
- (a) any financial institution that is resident in Kenya but does not mean any branch of that financial institution that is located outside Kenya; or
- (b) any branch of a financial institution that is not resident in Kenya, if that branch is located in Kenya.
(2) A reporting financial institution shall comply with the due diligence procedures and record keeping requirements as set out in the common reporting standard Regulations prescribed under subsection (6).
(3) A reporting financial institution shall identify reportable accounts as specified by the common reporting standard Regulations prescribed under subsection (6) and file with the Commissioner—
- (a) an information return on reportable accounts held, managed or administered by that reporting financial institution; or
- (b) a return marked “nil” if no account held, managed or administered by that reporting financial institution is identified as a reportable account.
(4) The date by which and the manner in which an information return or a ‘nil’ return shall be filed with the Commissioner shall be as set out in the common reporting standard Regulations prescribed under subsection (6).
(5) Where a financial institution, intermediary, service provider, or any other person enters into any
arrangements or engages in a practice the main purpose or one of the main purposes of which can reasonably be considered to be to avoid an obligation imposed under this section or under Regulations made under this Act, the arrangement or practice shall be deemed not have been entered into or engaged in and this section shall apply as if the arrangement or practice had not been entered into or engaged in.
(6) The Cabinet Secretary may, by Regulations, prescribe common reporting standards for the purposes of this Act.
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