Practice Insight
Tax that holds up when it is tested.
An introduction to the GIWA Africa Tax Advisory practice: what we do, how we work, and where we can help.
"A return filed on time is not the same thing as a position you can defend." - Our starting point
Small gaps become big assessments
Few businesses in Kenya end up in a dispute with KRA because they set out to avoid tax. It usually starts smaller: a payroll benefit treated the wrong way, a withholding certificate that never arrived, a related-party invoice priced out of habit, a Finance Act change noticed a year late.
Left alone, those gaps compound. With penalties and interest added, an assessment can arrive that is out of all proportion to the original mistake. KRA now matches returns against eTIMS invoices and withholding data, so gaps like these surface faster than they used to.
Our Tax Advisory practice is built to find those gaps early and close them properly. We read the law closely, test it against how your business actually runs, and tell you plainly where you stand and what to do next.
What we believe about tax
- Compliance should be defensible, not just filed. We look at whether your positions would survive an audit, not only whether the returns went in.
- Every year brings new law. Your controls should keep up. Finance Acts, regulations and KRA public notices change the rules every year. We turn each change into a specific step for your business.
- Clear answers, including the unwelcome ones. We lead with the conclusion, say what it will cost, and tell you when a course of action is not worth pursuing.
What we do
Advisory and research
- Tax health checks and risk registers. We find exposure gaps and close them before a KRA review does it for you.
- Finance Act and regulatory impact briefs. What changed, what it costs you, and what to do about it.
- Tax governance and audit readiness. Records and internal controls that stand up to scrutiny.
- Transfer pricing and cross-border structures. Related-party pricing you can support with evidence.
- Executive tax training. Practical sessions for directors and finance teams, in plain commercial terms.
With specialist partners
- KRA audits and dispute resolution. Support from the first notice through objection to the Tax Appeals Tribunal.
- Tax filing and representation. Licensed tax agents who file accurately and on time.
- Transaction structuring. Tax planned into the deal while it is being negotiated, not after.
- Legal representation. Advocates to protect your position in formal proceedings.
Where most clients start: the Tax Health Check
You receive
- A tax exposure assessment
- A tax risk register
- A list of compliance gaps
- A remediation plan, in order of priority
How an engagement runs
- Diagnostic call. Thirty to sixty minutes on how your business makes money and what is worrying you.
- Scoping. A written scope with deliverables, timelines and a fixed fee, agreed before work begins.
- Delivery. Every piece of advice is checked four times: technical accuracy, commercial impact, risk and clarity.
- Review. We track what we found and update our advice when your business or the law changes.
Who we work with
- Growing businesses and SMEs taking on staff, investors and heavier statutory obligations.
- NGOs and social enterprises adjusting to changes in exemption and compliance rules.
- Family-owned businesses putting governance and succession on a sound tax footing.
- Investors, including PE and VC funds testing tax exposure before a deal closes.