| dc.description.abstract | This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Ele
ctronic Tax Registers (ETRs) in the processing of V
alue Added
Tax returns. The study sought to determine the exte
nt to which the Electronic Tax Registers are being
used by
the taxpayers, the problems if any that they were e
ncountering in using them as well as get possible s
olutions to
the problems. Since many researchers had concentrat
ed much of their work on tax systems, tax evasion,
taxes
and interest rates, a lot was desired especially in
this area to assess the effectiveness of Electroni
c Tax Registers
had been recently introduced by the Kenyan tax auth
ority. The study sought to establish if the Electro
nic Tax
Registers had increased the speed at which taxpayer
s processed their VAT returns and if there were any
associated costs in the processing of VAT. The popu
lation under study comprised of 98 VAT registered
taxpayers in Kisii town according to the regional K
RA office’s records which was stratified into; serv
ice
providers, wholesalers & large scale retailers and
supermarkets. The main instrument of collecting pri
mary
data was the questionnaires while secondary data wa
s obtained from the KRA regional office. Analysis o
f data
was mainly done using descriptive statistics. The f
indings of this research project will assist the Ke
nya Revenue
Authority look for ways of improving the processing
of VAT returns. Due to limited sources of literatu
re, this
research was not considered as exhaustive but could
form the basis for further investigation.Data was
collected
from 78 registered VAT taxpayers in Kisii town. The
respondents were senior, middle level and low mana
gers.
Out of the 78 registered VAT taxpayers to whom the
questionnaires were administered, only 68 responded
. This
gives a response rate of 87% percent. Data analysis
tools used in the research were Excel and SPSS and
data
was presented in form of tables and graphs.Based on
the results from data analysis and findings of the
research,
one can safely conclude the following; First, Kenya
has witnessed significant changes in many aspects
of its
economy over the last four decades, but like most d
eveloping countries, it has had to contend with the
common
problems that plague tax systems of developing coun
tries (Karingi, Wanjala, Dec, 2005). Secondly, the
timely
filling of the monthly VAT returns is attributed to
many factors. ETR is one of the factors. Further t
he
introduction of ETR has assisted in cutting costs t
hat the business used to incur in processing VAT. T
hirdly, It
was found that ETRs have enhanced the revenue colle
ction resulting from sound sales and stock audits.
Fourthly, to evaluate the effectiveness of ETRs in
filling VAT Returns at regular intervals, it was fo
und that the
use of ETRs was not a waste of funds and has assist
ed the business in many ways. They also don’t ETRs
break
down too often. Lastly, KRA has articulated a visio
n for Kenyan customs, and in the process of deliver
ing such
mandate, it has faced challenges while meeting its
pillars that include The following challenges need
to be
addressed within the KRA: the cost and classificati
on of the businesses which need to use ETRs.: ETRs
are
expensive, cost to be paid in instalments; ETRs sho
uld be compatible with computers in business premis
es | |
