The government’s intentions to transform mobile money paybills and till numbers into electronic tax registers (ETRs) have drawn criticism from Safaricom, Kenya’s top telecom provider, who warns that this might potentially impede the uptake of digital payments and M-Pesa usage.

The effort aims to close the gap between the 2 million paybill users nationally and the 200,000 businesses with electronic tax returns (ETRs) by integrating the Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) systems with mobile financial platforms. Despite these worries, M-Pesa is still growing rapidly; in the six months ending in September, transaction values rose 10.7 percent to Sh20.9 trillion, while Pochi la Biashara sign-ups more than doubled to 869,000.

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Plans to integrate mobile pay bills begin December 25

This proposed move by the government intends to monitor pay bills and till numbers as part of a new push to boost tax compliance among firms.

This action comes after the electronic tax invoice management system (eTIMS) had minimal success, with over three-quarters of registered enterprises avoiding its use in its first year.

Moses Kuria, the president’s top economic adviser, announced on Wednesday that by December 25, the proposal will turn till numbers and mobile money pay bills into electronic tax registers (ETRs). The goal of this tactic is to find tax evaders more efficiently.

Only 120,000 registered taxpayers with company revenue had enrolled for eTIMS as of June, according to data from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). This represents only 18.1 percent of the approximately 663,000 registered enterprises.

Further underscoring the difficulties in broadening the tax base is the fact that over 50 percent of the companies on the eTIMS network do not engage in active transactions.

The new approach will put numerous enterprises under the KRA’s control by using pay invoices as KRA tax records.

This program specifically targets traders who are not covered by the current tax system and use mobile money systems like M-Pesa, T-Kash, and Airtel Money.

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Safaricom CEO expresses concerns 

CEO Peter Ndegwa stressed the need to strike a balance between tax collection and maintaining digital payment advances, even as he acknowledged Safaricom’s status as Kenya’s top taxpayer. The company is actively engaging authorities to ensure reforms take small business demands into account.

Like the current electronic tax invoice management system (eTIMS), the proposed integration specifically seeks to enhance VAT compliance through real-time transaction monitoring.

This initiative coincides with Safaricom’s announcement of a notable expansion of its merchant network, with M-Pesa revenues reaching Sh77.2 billion over the six-month period and Lipa Na M-Pesa tills reaching 658,700.