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Analysis

Stories that begin with something visible and ask what larger system is quietly being revealed.

Lecture 114 · A county employee said the deposits were loans and reimbursements, and with no records a KSh 14 million bill stood.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 114 · A county employee said the deposits were loans and reimbursements, and with no records a KSh 14 million bill stood.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA banked five years of deposits in a Busia County employee's accounts and assessed KSh 14 million. Oteba said the surplus was reimbursements and loans but produced no imprest records or loan agreements, and one of his own documents showed he had kept the money. The tribunal upheld the bill, reduced on objection.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 113 · The taxman froze a lawyer's account for a company's debt, and he had resigned as its director years before.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 113 · The taxman froze a lawyer's account for a company's debt, and he had resigned as its director years before.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA froze a Nairobi lawyer's personal account for a company's KSh 20 million VAT debt, though he had resigned as its director years before and the company never updated the record. The tribunal held the agency notice void, and the High Court ordered the seized money repaid with interest and KSh 500,000 in damages.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 112 · Rumish answered a banking-test bill with its ledgers, and the burden shifted to the taxman who would not fault them.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 112 · Rumish answered a banking-test bill with its ledgers, and the burden shifted to the taxman who would not fault them.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA treated almost every bank credit of Rumish Limited as income, a KSh 28.4 million bill. Rumish answered with audited accounts, reconciliations and schedules of its loans and refunds. The tribunal held the burden had shifted to KRA, which never faulted the documents, and set the assessment aside.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 111 · A landlord ran his rentals on cash and kept no receipts, and a KSh 170 million bill mostly stood.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 111 · A landlord ran his rentals on cash and kept no receipts, and a KSh 170 million bill mostly stood.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA billed an elderly Nairobi landlord about KSh 170 million after reviewing years of rent. He had skipped the review, paid everything in cash, and kept no receipts, so the authority built the figures from his tenants. The tribunal allowed the few costs he could prove and confirmed the rest.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 110 · The taxman billed both a company and its director for the same money, and the court held the income is taxed once.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 110 · The taxman billed both a company and its director for the same money, and the court held the income is taxed once.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA billed a builder KSh 10 million personally on the money he drew from his company, while taxing the company on the same withdrawals. An ADR settlement had already dealt with that income through the company. The High Court held the same income cannot be taxed twice, and dismissed the demand.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 109 · Teekay said it had given the taxman its records, and never put them before the tribunal that had to decide.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 109 · Teekay said it had given the taxman its records, and never put them before the tribunal that had to decide.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA assessed Teekay KSh 14 million on a gap between its deposits and its returns and on unaccounted stock. Teekay said it had handed its records to the taxman, but never filed them with the tribunal, never answered the specific gaps, and the appeal was dismissed.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 108 · Smartgas answered a banking-test bill with a letter and a summary, and without its books the assessment stood.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 108 · Smartgas answered a banking-test bill with a letter and a summary, and without its books the assessment stood.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA treated every bank credit of an LPG company as income, a KSh 18 million bill. Asked for reconciliations, audited accounts, ledgers and licences, Smartgas produced only an objection letter and a note on VAT rates. The tribunal held the burden was its own and upheld the banking test.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 107 · The taxman taxed Sybrin's software because Kenyan banks used it, and the court looked instead at who the customer was.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 107 · The taxman taxed Sybrin's software because Kenyan banks used it, and the court looked instead at who the customer was.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: Sybrin wrote software for foreign affiliates who built it into products sold to Kenyan banks. KRA called the service consumed in Kenya and charged VAT. The Court of Appeal held the foreign affiliates were the customers, the service was exported, and the banks were never part of the deal.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 106 · The taxman demanded most of a restaurant's sales as tax, and the court called the assessment oppressive.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 106 · The taxman demanded most of a restaurant's sales as tax, and the court called the assessment oppressive.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA billed a Malindi restaurant KSh 40 million, nearly three-quarters of its sales, taking the till figures as if they were profit. The High Court held the demand arbitrary and oppressive, made on the wrong law and without a fair hearing, and quashed it, though the taxman may reassess.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 105 · The taxman recast Amply's airtime sales as a taxable service, and the plain words of the law exempted them.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 105 · The taxman recast Amply's airtime sales as a taxable service, and the plain words of the law exempted them.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA billed Amply, an airtime dealer, KSh 41 million by recasting its exempt airtime sales as a taxable distribution service. The tribunal read the exemption as written, struck the time-barred year on its own motion, and vacated the VAT, but upheld an income-tax head Amply never challenged.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 104 · A constituency fund was billed KSh 51 million in old PAYE, and the years before it was registered were struck.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 104 · A constituency fund was billed KSh 51 million in old PAYE, and the years before it was registered were struck.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA billed the Uriri development fund KSh 51 million in PAYE and withholding taxes reaching back to 2013. The tribunal held the fund had no duty to deduct before it was registered in 2018, struck the earlier years as time-barred, but upheld the rest for want of records.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid

Lecture 103 · A landlord said he had given the taxman his records, and with no proof of it a KSh 64 million bill mostly stood.
Precursor Executive Classroom

Lecture 103 · A landlord said he had given the taxman his records, and with no proof of it a KSh 64 million bill mostly stood.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA taxed a godown landlord KSh 64 million for years of undeclared rent. He said he had handed over his documents, but could not prove he ever delivered them and only produced them buried in his submissions. The tribunal upheld the bill, striking only the time-barred year.

Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid