Despite facing muted economic growth and waning private sector activity, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has defied the odds, collecting a record KES2.112 trillion by April 30, 2025. 

This marks the first time the taxman has breached the symbolic two-trillion-shilling threshold, posting 96.5 percent performance rate against its annual target of KES2.189 trillion.

According to a statement attributed to the Commissioner-General Humphrey Wattanga, the achievement was underpinned by steady growth across domestic taxes, customs, and agency collections.

In a statement, KRA noted that domestic taxes grew by of 4.7 percent to KES1.386 trillion between July—April 2024/25, compared to the KES1.323 trillion collected during the comparable period in the 2023/24 fiscal year.

Additionally, customs collection increased by 9.1 percent to KES722.743 billion, compared to KES662.447 billion that was collected in the same period in the previous year.

Further, agency revenue (collected on behalf of other Government entities) increased by 37.1 percent to KES205.518 billion, a feat that the taxman said reflects "a performance rate of 111.8 percent against a target of KES183.789 billion." 

What's more, statistics show that exchequer revenue, which represents collections made on behalf of The National Treasury, went up by 3.6 percent to KES1.906 trillion, reflecting a performance rate of 95 percent against a target of KES2.006 trillion. 

In spite of the progressive growth, KRA said the collection was affected by various economic indicators that directly drive revenue collection. For instance, Kenya's GDP grew at slower pace of 4 percent in the three months to September 2024, which were marked by youth-led revolt against President William Ruto's tax measures.

During the July 2024 and April 2025 period, the country's GDP slowed to 4 percent in Q3 last year even as import values, a key driver of tax performance, slipped by 1.6 percent.

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