Sauti Sol, the popular Kenyan boy band, may soon find themselves facing difficulties with President Ruto’s government due to recent developments in financial regulations. Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungu has announced regular modifications to the regulations governing the exchange of financial information between Kenya and approximately 106 other nations. This decision is part of a wider crackdown on tax evasion and illicit wealth accumulation. Sources reveal that the motive behind this move is to prevent unauthorized amendments to the regulations that could potentially facilitate tax evasion.
Must read: How Sauti Sol found themselves in a 10 million shillings Debt
Under the revised regulations, all Kenyan banks, resident financial institutions, trusts, and local branches of non-resident financial institutions are now mandated to provide detailed information to the tax authorities. This includes the bank account numbers, names, addresses, residences, Tax Identification Numbers (TINs), date and place of birth, and beneficiaries of foreign account holders.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will subsequently share this information with the 106 participating countries, which include renowned tax havens such as Switzerland, Panama, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Mauritius, Jersey, and Monaco. In return, the KRA will receive information on Kenyan citizens holding bank accounts in these jurisdictions.
Prior to this development, Sauti Sol had advocated for Kenyan artists and content creators to open offshore bank accounts as a means to evade the proposed tax bill targeting content creators across the country. In a viral video, Bien of Sauti Sol boasted about the band’s offshore accounts, asserting that they would not be affected by President Ruto’s finance bill.
“We have offshore accounts so that finance bill won’t affect us. I advise all artists to get offshore accounts in Mauritius, Georgia, and Switzerland, and get paid internationally. Stop accepting payments in Kenya because you’ll be taxed by an undeserving government,” said Bien.
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