Kenya Seeks Increase in Price of Tax Stamps

Kenyans could soon pay more for alcohol, cigarettes, juice and cosmetic products as the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) seeks to increase the price of excise tax stamps (which are used on all of these product groups), as part of its measures to increase revenue collection.

To this end, KRA has proposed that the price of tax stamps for liquor, wine and tobacco products (including liquid nicotine for e-cigarettes) should potentially increase from KES 2.80 per stamp to KES 5 ($0.04).

For beer, meanwhile, the proposed increase is from KES 1.50 to KES 3 ($0.024), for non-alcoholic beverages from KES 0.60 to KES 2.20, and for cosmetic and beauty products from KES 0.60 to KES 2.50. Bottled water will remain unchanged at KES 0.50 per stamp.

President William Ruto’s administration is keen to increase revenues by about half, to KES 3 trillion ($24 billion) by the next financial year.

The tax stamps form part of Kenya’s Excisable Goods Management System (EGMS), which include multilevel security tax stamps (for tobacco, spirits and wine), directly printed secure marks (for beer and non-alcoholic drinks), and remote automated monitoring systems installed on domestic production lines.