Kenyan businesses are urging President William Ruto to allow them to use their Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds to offset other tax obligations, a proposal the President is open to considering. This comes amid concerns over extended VAT refund verification periods and inadequate monthly allocations for refunds, impacting business liquidity.

• Outstanding VAT refunds are estimated at approximately Sh15 billion.
• The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa), represented by Chief Executive Carole Kariuki, is leading the advocacy for these changes.
• Businesses are pushing for the monthly government allocation for VAT refunds to increase from Sh2.5 billion to Sh5 billion, and for the verification period to revert from 120 days to 90 days.