KRA demands Ksh 118 million from Gor Mahia
courtesy of the Standard
After asking Kenyan athletes to pay taxes, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has turned its attention to local clubs. League champions Gor Mahia has been hit with a Sh118 million income tax demand note, a move that could easily bring down the club, especially after it lost a key sponsor last month. The club currently has no shirt sponsor after Tuzo withdrew their Sh29 million-a-year support. The taxman wrote to Gor Mahia last week demanding that the club pays the said amount or risk being slapped with fines. The letter from KRA is copied to Kenyan Premier League (KPL), the custodian of broadcast sponsorship money from SuperSport.
Kenya Revenue Authority demands Sh118m from Gor Mahia Updated Tuesday, April 22nd 2014 at 21:16 GMT +3 0 inShare Kenya Revenue Authority demands Sh118m from Gor Mahia Gor Mahia fans during a match. The club currently has no shirt sponsor after Tuzo withdrew their Sh29 million-a-year support. [Photo: File/Standard] By Gilbert Wandera Nairobi, Kenya: After asking Kenyan athletes to pay taxes, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has turned its attention to local clubs. League champions Gor Mahia has been hit with a Sh118 million income tax demand note, a move that could easily bring down the club, especially after it lost a key sponsor last month.
The club currently has no shirt sponsor after Tuzo withdrew their Sh29 million-a-year support. The taxman wrote to Gor Mahia last week demanding that the club pays the said amount or risk being slapped with fines. The letter from KRA is copied to Kenyan Premier League (KPL), the custodian of broadcast sponsorship money from SuperSport. Gor Mahia Secretary General Chris Omondi confirmed they have received the demand note and have even held a meeting with the taxman. A second meeting is expected to be held next week. “Our position is that Gor Mahia is a society and therefore are not supposed to pay taxes. On the question of income tax, it is a very tricky area and we are asking why only Gor Mahia has been asked to pay such an amount of money.
“We have also demanded an explanation as to how the figure was arrived at because it looks like there was a lot of estimations. We are having a second meeting and hopefully it can be explained to us,” said Omondi. Omondi further revealed that the letter from KRA, which was also sent to their former sponsors Tuzo, forced them to withhold the players’ salaries. KPL Chief Executive Jack Oguda said he was aware of the new development and had convened a meeting with Gor Mahia officials on Wednesday to discuss the way forward. “We do not know how the figure has been arrived at and have scheduled a meeting with Gor Mahia officials to discuss the matter,” said Oguda.
Oguda said last year, AFC Leopards were also asked to pay Sh4 million in tax areas by the KRA. At the beginning of the year, KRA issued demand notes to various top athletes to pay taxes. The move was widely criticised by the athletes and some even threatened to boycott representing the country in major events. The taxman, however, received backing from two former athletes who asked their colleagues to co-operate. The 1991 World 10,000m champion Moses Tanui and the man who won in the 5,000m at the same championship, Yobes Ondieki, said paying taxes is a responsibility of all citizens and all should comply.
i hope this is easter hangover fools day.kwani wadhani Gor ni den yakumint chapaa kimalamala.ka ni ukweli mtu anishow,i will tell them this is the starting n ending of football careers.Tusker,Kcb,chemilil,sony,wanalipa ngapi?hope ni 500 million.
THIS JUBILEE AUTHORITY INSTEAD OF PROMOTING KENYAN FOOTBALL THEY R OUT TO FRUSTRATE IT. NO PROPER STRUCTURES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNICAL AND SKILLFUL SPORTS LIKE HOCKEY, FOOTBALL,BASKETBALL,RUGBY,CRICKET AMONG OTHERS. NO STADIA TO BE PROUD OF IN MOMBASA,KISUMU,KAKAMEGA,HOMABAY,KISII, SIAYA,MIGORI, BUNGOMA. THE BACKBONE OF TEAMSPORTS.
the jubilee gorvenmt should realise this is a STUPID move. are you charging taxes on stadiums you build or is there security you have been providing in to make gor matches safe. gor club has been struggling by itself so pls get lost. what structures have you brought about so that gor increases it’s income? where are the stadia u were to build in every county? europeans will gladly pay taxes cause they can see the structures put up by the goverment. Why isn’t jubilee taxing building(landlords)owners or is it because they are from one community?
Club should get hold of tax expert to study the tax demand note immediately
This is NOT a wise move. Leave Kogallo and other struggling industries to grow before introducing taxes.
For God and my beloved club – Kogallo
we shld gv room 4 an explanation 4rom kra so we contact expert with a problem we need the basis n categori of taxing gor
we nd 2 go 4 xplanation n in the mean time organise 4 mbrs dönations instead of gate collctions so tht we play professional game with kra donations r nt taxable
guys what i knw we cnt pay tht amnt bcz we dnt gt it.kwani thika fc imekua sirkal na hatujui tukiwachapa tuntxiwa eeeee?
As far as I know taxes are paid on profits assuming one is a profit making entity. As a society am not sure whether Gor should pay income tax and when did KRA get involved in what gor earns. As far as I know teams in Kenya do not and cannot make any profit due to the meagre resources. Anyway we have enough tax and legal consultants in the Gor family to take care of this. By the way how can tax due be even more than the sponsorship money?. Like @Jakorando has adviced we can go the donation way instead of gate collections. In this case the matches will be ‘free’ but we donate some 200 bob or 500 bob to the club. I hope that will help us with tax ‘avoidance’ which is fairly legal and not the illegal tax ‘evasion’. At 118m and corporate tax at 30% that means the club made a profit of 342m!!! We would then be the richest club this side of the Sahara. I hope my local village team will also not be sent a tax demand note.
This is all about getting priorities wrong as a country. From what I know they will not get a single penny from us. I hear that even SS is being charged for airing matches yet as an legal entity they should be paying the normal corporate tax. This must be the consequences we were warned about.
Mambo ya KRA sio mchezo. We need to move with speed to strike some kind of negotiated agreement. Our officials have been announcing to all and sundry what we spend and what we need every month and now the taxman wants his share.
Please Bwana AR and company, seal loopholes at the gates and in ticketing and talk to the taxman to postpone their collection until the club is financially sound. This is possible.
The other option is to appeal to the president himself to give Kogalo a tax holiday as it is employing many youths and promoting the governments sports agenda.
Lastly, from my own experience on the roads, i will tell our officials to take the matter seriously.
GOR MAHIA IS A SOCIETY.NOT A PROFIT MAKING ENTERPRISE.WE PAY FOR THE HIRED STADIUM,HIRE SECURITY .
WHY DO U TAX GOR MAHIA FOR PROMOTING KENYAN FOOTBALL ON BEHALF OF JUBILEE AUTHORITY ?
Comrades,this matter shouldn’t be treated lightly.The EC should come clean and explain to fans how this came to be.Could they have opened and operated an account under the name”Gor Mahia ltd”.Am just thinking aloud,and,I am afraid I could be right.If that is the case then the former SG George Bwana and co must clarify certein things to us.In the meantime let’s wait and see how the matter unfolds in the coming weeks.So players salaries have been withheld,presumably for the month of March and possibly February,because EC can’t access the account now.There is also a high probability that Tuzo didn’t submit the last tranche to Gor.Makubwa haya.
GOR MAHIA OFFICIALS MUST COMMUNICATE TO THE CITIZENS OF KOGALLO. DO NOT B QUIET.
jogi omer. how did they arrive @ the figure and y kogalo there are 18 teams in kpl its not only gor. waache kucheza na kogallo
Don’t panic. We have a very capable lawyer in the name of Ambrose Rachier. I think the first thing to do is move to court and get an injunction stopping kra from doing anything. We won’t pay that amount. How come afc leopards are told to pay only 4 million and us 118 million? How does that make any sense?
This figure of Kshs.118 million must be authenticated on how KRA had arrived at it. Taxes have consequences and could be having been accrued from wages and allowances payable to players, which I highly doubt can reach at this stupid higher figure.
We need an explanation by KRA and from EC on how this figure was arrived at by KRA. I think may be someone in KRA want to make some easy quick money from our poor club. God forbid. How come this matter is coming after the Issues of TUZO sponsorship? Could TUZO be using some underground tactics to frustrate Gor Mahia from getting another sponsor?
Mr. President, Cabinet Secretary – National Treasury and Youths & Sports, below are few questions that require some answers and your intervention:-
1. How do we grow sports in this country?
2. How do we disengage youths from involving in bad behaviors?
3. How do we promote sports to be a source of income for our boys and girls?
4. How do we promote sports to be a foreign currency cash cow to our country?
Choices have consequences!!!
One big Joke. I read mischief. Someone wants to provoke Gor fans into action for them to Ban Gor Mahia. GOR is the most unifying factor for us from the lake. Which other Society pays tax. Ambrose Rachier show us your legal prowress. Hold fort legally as we await Bwana Patron Raila Amolo To come handle the political part from his US trip.