The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is expecting to earn up to 5 billion Kenyan shillings ($45.5 million) during the first half of 2020 from a new tax that targets cryptocurrency exchanges and other online services, according to a top KRA official.
First proposed in August 2020, the digital service tax (DST) came into force on Jan. 2 amid concerns over implementation. The tax is charged at the rate of 1.5% on gross transaction value with every crypto sale.
Both local and foreign digital asset exchanges operating in the country will also pay the tax to the Kenyan government. Foreign exchanges like peer-to-peer platform Paxful and Binance will be required to pay the tax each month.
However, Kenyan crypto businesses have the option of claiming back their DST at the end of each year since they are already subject to paying other local taxes.
According to Rispah Simiyu, commissioner of the domestic taxes department at the Kenya Revenue Authority, the
