The Effectiveness of online tax filling in Kenya : a case study of SMEs in Nairobi

Abstract

The study was conducted to document the effectiveness of online tax filling in Kenya, the case of SMEs in Nairobi. It sought to find out whether Kenyans are taking advantage of the new online tax filing system and what efforts KRA is making to make the system attractive for users. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews where appropriate. The analysis of findings involved the use of bar graphs, charts, tables and percentages to show results of the questionnaire. The findings indicate that the online tax filing system is not popular among a majority of small business owners in Kenya with the main reasons being the lack of knowledge of computer usage as well inability to avoid some taxes due to the effectiveness of the system in taking all details into consideration. Those who have taken initiative to use the system also experience problems with most popular problem being the inaccessibility of the KRA website. The study also brought out the importance of classification of SMEs according to their sizes and resource allocation thus the need for further study in this area.