Stories that begin with something visible and ask what larger system is quietly being revealed.
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: Lead Human Capital paid outsourced workers with its client's money and charged VAT only on its management fee. KRA wanted VAT on the whole payroll. The High Court held the wages were a pass-through, not a taxable supply, and VAT fell on the fee alone.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA taxed Francis Kamau on his gross bank deposits, campaign funds and dowry gifts alike. The tribunal held the burden is only a balance of probabilities, that KRA had disregarded his explanations and plucked figures from the air, and set the whole demand aside.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: Nuel Holding earned a KSh 52 million contract in September but was paid in November, and declared no business that month. The tribunal held that receipt of payment is itself a time of supply, and without proof the VAT was already accounted for, the assessment stood.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: Oxy Plus said the assessment was guesswork that ignored its costs, and it may have been right. But it objected four months late with no reason and no documents, and the tribunal struck the appeal out before a single figure was examined.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: KRA disallowed KSh 53 million of repairs and security costs because Kirima and Sons produced no proof, its records trapped in a long succession dispute. The tribunal held a best-judgment assessment is provisional, accepted the independent explanation, and sent the matter back for the documents.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: In one day before one judge, Pernod Ricard fought two refund battles. It lost KSh 58 million by burying a rejected claim inside a fresh application, and won KSh 29 million because the taxman decided fifty-seven days after the statutory clock had run out. Process decided both.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: Doll overpaid KSh 54 million, and the taxman issued a voucher acknowledging it, then rejected his refund five times, the last time citing an audit report it would not produce. The tribunal held a decision resting on hidden evidence is unfair, and ordered the refund within ninety days.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: CRBC paid allowances straight to the police guarding its railway site, and the taxman said that made it liable to deduct PAYE. The High Court held the duty to deduct falls on an employer, and the contractor was not the officers' employer, so the KSh 65 million assessment was cancelled.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: The institute believed its donor grants were untaxable and its research costs allowable. But its objection left the withholding tax undisputed and unpaid, its appeal was filed late, and no extension was sought. The tribunal struck it out for KSh 67 million without touching the merits.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: Sendy owned no vehicles and paid VAT only on its commission, backed by a private ruling from the taxman. The High Court applied the OnlyFans test, held that the platform which sets the price and takes the payment is the supplier, and charged VAT on the full fare.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: A bilateral treaty once exempted the Swedish school's teachers from PAYE, and the taxman confirmed it in writing. When a renewed treaty went silent and an audit reversed the advice, the tribunal held that silence is not exemption and the written assurance did not bind the taxman.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · Paid
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎: Minet kept part of each hospital invoice for settling claims early and called it a discount. The High Court held the early payment was a service and the margin a fee, and charged it to both VAT and excise duty, reinstating KSh 33 million in excise on top of the VAT.
Tax and financial judgement · 10 Nov 2026 · 5 min read · Paid