Kenya Government Seeks to Expand Tax Net by Going After Influencer and Crypto Earnings

The Kenyan government has just passed its controversial Finance Bill 2023 into law. This bill was highly disputed by many, but after passing through different stages of readings, it's now signed by President William Ruto. 

The bill will be hunting the earnings of individuals in the digital space such as content creators and crypto traders. With the passing of the bill, all Kenyans who earn in the digital space are expected to pay tax on every earnings they get from their work. 

The digital space in the country is populated with many earning thousands of dollars, so it'd be a great place for the country to generate revenue. 

However this was not supported at first due to the tax placed on each earnings of content creators and crypto traders, but it was reduced to a lesser percentage. Let's look at what the government is saying about each industry. 

Content Creators

The law defines "digital content monetization" as offering entertainment, literary, social, educational, artistic, or any material electronically through any channel or medium for payment. It can be done through different methods such as website advertisements, brand sponsorships, subscription services, social media platforms, merchandise sales, licensed content (music or photographs), exclusive content membership programs, crowdfunding, and user-generated projects. 

The bill initially imposed a 15% withholding tax (WHT) on earnings from digital content monetization. However, with many talks from oppositions, the national assembly adjusted the WHT to 1.5%. The bill will start on July 1, 2023 - this means that before a content creator is paid, the payer has to remit the 1.5% WHT to the government while the remaining earnings go to the individual. 

Crypto Traders 

The bill also hunted the earnings of those trading cryptocurrency. The implementation of digital asset tax (Dat) must be paid on all earnings obtained from trading of digital assets. The bill defined digital assets as anything that can not be seen but yet highly valuable. These assets are generated through cryptographic methods. 

According to the law, platforms that camp these crypto traders will deduct Digital Asset Tax (Dat) at 3% from any digital asset traded. In the case of non-resident platform owners, they will remit the tax within 24 hours after making the deduction.