Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) Sh517 mn tax victory against  Mastermind Tobacco is a vital breakthrough in the war against criminals in illicit trade who rob the Nation of billions every week, Stop Crime Kenya (StoCK) says today.

The Tax Appeals Tribunal ruled that the cigarette manufacturer must pay VAT and excise due on 419 cartons of its’ Supermatch brand cigarettes for export that were seized at a suspect’s home in 2016. Mastermind Tobacco had been unable to provide valid export documents.

Stephen Mutoro, who launched StoCK last year as a platform of fighting illicit trade, said today: “Criminals are robbing Kenya of an estimated Sh153 bn every year by failing to pay due taxes on smuggled stocks, counterfeit goods and other products declared for export which never leave the country.

“The illicit cigarette trade alone cost Sh2.2 bn the sum of which would otherwise be spent on providing essential services to Kenyans especially at this point in time that we are battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We applaud the KRA for this vital breakthrough. We urge KRA Commissioner General Mr James Mburu to focus more on netting missing billions which go down the illicit trade route. National Treasury must empower and facilitate KRA to bring more tax cheats to justice.

“Organised syndicates use ill-gotten profits to expand their networks and fund other corrupt enterprises including drug-dealing. Illicit trafficking is a critical revenue stream for the nexus of terror groups operating throughout the East Africa region. The end result will be that Kenyans will be taxed less, cut the ballooning public debt even us more resources will be available for provision of public service delivery”, he said.

“Kenyans must indeed learn that this is not a victimless crime. Illicit trade costs countless lives and livelihoods. We can only allow it to continue thriving at our own peril. We at StoCK pledge to continue working with the office of the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Intelligence to ensure that we stem illicit trade. We call upon Kenyans of goodwill to continue sharing intelligence information with us in confidence”, said Mutoro

Led by Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) Secretary General Stephen Mutoro, StoCK is working to raise awareness of how organised syndicates are robbing the Nation, and further seek to ensure they are successfully prosecuted with aim of recovery of lost funds as well as serving as a major deterrent.

StoCK other director is Yusuf Abramjee, the founder of Tax Justice South Africa (TJSA) and a Vice President of Crime Stoppers International.