Event report

Breakfast Meeting: Management of Tax Audit & Dispute Resolution

Yesterday, the FCCK hosted a breakfast session on "management of tax audit and tax dispute resolution", organized in partnership with Grant Thornton Kenya.

Led by Samuel Mwaura, tax partner at Grant Thornton Kenya, the session explored how technology, real-time data integration, and automated validations are redefining tax audits and enforcement. Driven by fiscal pressures and ambitious revenue collection goals, tax administration is moving away from manual, retrospective reviews toward risk-based and automated compliance.

Key takeaways from the session included:

• Data-driven compliance: systems like eTIMS and cross-border data exchanges are moving tax oversight from information scarcity to real-time data abundance.
• Broadening the tax net: recent policy shifts focus on capturing under-taxed sectors, including MSMEs and the digital economy.
• Emerging business risks: digital traceability, customs valuations, and data integrity gaps pose significant audit exposure for companies.
• Strategic dispute resolution: leveraging alternative dispute resolution and maintaining audit documentation are critical for resolving KRA disputes efficiently.
• Proactive tax governance: businesses must embed tax readiness into daily operations rather than treating it as a year-end compliance task.

A sincere thank you to Samuel Mwaura and the Grant Thornton Kenya team for sharing their expertise, and to all participants for contributing to this timely and insightful discussion!