Gathige. I am not a KRA sleuth and will never be. I believe that we should pay our legally spelt out taxes as law abiding citizens and that the Government should use our taxes prudently and with transparency and accountability. They should not create parallel panya routes that make it difficult for law-abiding business people to do business. If an item is charged 100% additional charges as taxes if cleared under IDF system and another just pays for shipping and handling only, how will the law abiding citizen compete effectively? It is worth discussing it.

My take is that you will be penalized for not filing tax returns. Remember that KRA also wants to collect more taxes from you in case you have some side hustles like farming, shops and others where tax is not deducted at source. If they find that you have other undeclared income they will charge you penalties and interest for the unpaid extra tax. The employer will have done his part by deducting and remitting the tax to KRA and giving you your P9 form to file.

Why can't KRA give tax refunds to those who've complied? It is very discouraging to consistently file tax returns yet you never get refunds despite doing follow-ups upto the headquarters!!

Refunds are not automatic and they might require further assessment/ audit before ant refunds are made. In fact you might be forced to pay more taxes and penalties after they do due diligence and review your bank statements and those of companies where you are a director (using your KRA PIN they will easily establish this)

I understand cargo consolidation but I doubt it is supported in any tax law. I understand that KRA tried to ask for details of clients of cargo consolidation companies where they latter refused. This was meant for KRA to start charging by value of goods. In addition, the KRA guys go to the shops and ask the sellers of (especially serialized goods like electronics) to produce IDF documents. If you do not have, you will be charged with tax evasion. Check this fact out.