KRA to begin monitoring mobile phones as part of push for tax compliance.

Manufacturers, importers, retailers, and mobile network operators must upload the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of all devices assembled or imported after November 1, 2024, into a KRA portal for tax compliance monitoring, according to new rules announced by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA).

Similar to all mobile phones imported for sale, testing, research, or “any other purpose,” CA states that local assemblers are required to provide the tax authority with the IMEI number of each assembled device.

According to CA, “this disclosure is required for the devices to be registered in the National Master Database on Tax-Compliant Devices.”

Conversely, wholesalers and retailers are instructed to sell only compliant devices.

Before retailers or end users buy mobile devices, “[KRA] will provide the means by which the tax compliance status of mobile devices will be verified,” the directive says.

In the meantime, mobile network providers such as Safaricom, Telkom, and Airtel have been instructed to only allow devices to connect to their networks after confirming the devices’ tax compliance status using a whitelist database of compliant devices that KRA will supply.

“In order to facilitate regularization within a specified period, operators will also need to provide for the grey-listing of non-compliant devices; if they don’t, the devices will subsequently be blacklisted.”