Lecture 15 Β· Twenty days cost Coca-Cola KSh 69.8m of input VAT.
π»ππ πͺπππ πΉπππ: Coca-Cola Beverages left January's input VAT out of its returns, then added it to an amended July return on the day July's return was due. The Tribunal held that the six-month window had closed on 31 July.
Precursor
The case
In January 2025 Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd bought taxable supplies carrying input VAT of KSh 69,756,165. The invoices were dated 3 and 31 January. The VAT was not claimed in the returns that followed. On 20 August 2025, the due date for the July return, the company filed an amended July return that included the January invoices for the first time.
Its reasoning was that section 17(2) of the VAT Act speaks of tax periods. The July period falls within six months of January, and the July return was filed on its statutory due date. It relied on the High Court's decision in Highlands Mineral Water that late filing does not by itself forfeit input tax, and argued that iTax's acceptance of the amended return created a legitimate expectation.
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Precursor is published by the FinTech Association of Kenya and exercises independent editorial judgement under the Editorial Independence Charter. This article is labelled Precursor Executive Classroom, which marks commercial material. Knowledge on Tax and financial judgement.
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π»ππ πͺπππ πΉπππ: KRA found that ten of a company's suppliers had no premises, no trading history and almost no other customers, and had been paid in cash. The Tribunal said valid invoices were enough. The High Court said invoices only open the argument.
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π»ππ πͺπππ πΉπππ: KRA labelled an event company's equipment supplier a missing trader and disallowed KSh 15.8m of input VAT. The company had invoices, ETR receipts, payment records and ledgers. The Tribunal held that KRA, not the buyer, must investigate the supplier.
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π»ππ πͺπππ πΉπππ: KRA traced the PIN on a company's purchase invoices to a trader buried two years before the first sale. The company blamed a former accountant. The Tribunal held that a dead man cannot supply goods, and upheld KSh 3.5m.
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