Aasai

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has recorded an all-time high monthly revenue collection from Customs and Border Control, hitting Sh82.55 billion in January 2025. This figure surpasses the set target of Sh74.44 billion by Sh8.12 billion, marking an impressive 110.9% performance rate.

According to KRA Commissioner for Customs and Border Control, Dr. Lilian Nyawanda, this milestone reflects the success of ongoing reforms within Customs operations, which have significantly improved tax collection efficiency.

What’s Driving the Revenue Growth?

KRAs strong performance in January was fueled by several key factors:

✅ Reforms in Customs Procedures – The Centralised Release Operations system, introduced to streamline customs declarations, has eliminated inefficiencies. Under this system, release officers are stationed at a centralized location and assigned declarations randomly, ensuring greater transparency, better risk management, and enhanced revenue mobilization.

✅ Increase in Non-Petroleum Taxes – Compared to January 2024, non-petroleum tax collections grew by 11.6%, reflecting a stronger compliance rate and improved trade activity.

✅ Boom in Petroleum Tax Collections – Revenue from petroleum products saw a massive 55.9% increase year-on-year, thanks to a 6.6% rise in oil imports. Notably, petrol imports rose by 89.7%, while diesel imports surged 65%, leading to higher-than-expected revenue across VAT on oil, excise duty on petroleum products, and fuel levies.

KRA’s Revenue Growth Strategy Paying Off

Dr. Nyawanda attributed this revenue success to KRA’s aggressive modernization and reform agenda, which aims to boost compliance, improve collection efficiency, and ensure accountability in revenue administration.

“These results reflect the ongoing commitment by KRA to enhance revenue mobilization efforts and ensure that tax targets are consistently met. This is critical in supporting the country’s economic stability and development,” she said.

KRA has been implementing a broader tax reform strategy, including digitization of tax processes, real-time customs monitoring systems, and stricter enforcement measures to curb revenue leakages.

With the 2024/2025 financial year now in its second half, KRA is on track to sustain strong revenue growth, reinforcing its role in supporting Kenya’s economic and fiscal policies.

KRA Collection Surge

KRA surpasses custom revenue target by Kes 8.1B in January

KRA records better performance on the back of reforms #CitizenFridayNight @lillian_muli pic.twitter.com/RN5wPtNCX0

— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) February 7, 2025