Training of Kenya’s Tax Appeals Tribunal

Photo Credit: International Lawyers Project

Situation

The Kenya Tax Appeals Tribunal is established under the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act, 2013 and has the mandate to hear appeals filed against any tax decision made by the Kenya Revenue Authority. Its membership consists of advocates as well as persons with a degree in law, business, finance, public finance, economics, insurance or any related discipline. These members, however, do not necessarily have a background in tax. Given the level of technical expertise needed to handle tax appeals, it is imperative that the members of the Tribunal gain mastery of tax law in order to issue sound decisions. This is especially the case because appealing decisions of the Tribunal to the High Court is an expensive and protracted process. Although the Tribunal is part of the judiciary it has been facing a shrinking budget. As a result, there is limited funding for the training the members of the Tribunal.

ILP’s Action

ILP was able to provide a week-long training to the members of the Tribunal. Leveraging its network of pro bono lawyers as well as the members from our partner, the Committee on Fiscal Studies, ILP brought in tax experts to cover the key aspects of domestic taxation as well as customs and excise duty. The trainers covered both basic and advanced aspects of tax. They also fielded questions from the members of the Tribunal in order to advise on emergent issues that were being seen in practice.

Impact

The training built the capacity of members of the Tribunal, which in turn will contribute to the strengthening of this institution. Over the longer term, taxpayers will have increased legal certainty, building trust in the judiciary, and promoting the rule of law, improving accountability and enhancing access to justice. Our post training survey indicated that attendees felt that the training had helped them and it is noticeable that Tribunal decisions issued since the training have taken training topics into consideration.