Google Kenya has taken to court the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) demanding Ksh58.7 million as tax refunds.
According to reports by the Nation, Google Kenya wants the High Court to overturn a Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT) decision that barred it from demanding refunds for Value Added Tax paid between 2010 and 2013.
In its decision, TAT ruled that Google Kenya’s services, offered on behalf of Google LLC and Google Ireland, were consumed locally, hence the taxes cannot be refunded.
“The tribunal erred in law and fact by misapprehending the nature of marketing and support rendered by Google Kenya to Google Ireland by failing to consider that the category of marketing and support services included marketing and strategic analysis and forecasts of the sales of Google Ireland products in addition to demonstration services of Google Ireland’s web-based products rendered by Google Kenya,” the company’s lawyers Anjarwalla & Khanna LLP say in court papers.
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According to KRA, Google LLC and Google Ireland only paid for the services and not consumers, hence refusing to release the tax refunds launched by Google Kenya in 2015.
“The tribunal erred in law and fact in holding that the marketing and support services were consumed in Kenya, even after agreeing with Google Kenya that the consumer of the service is the person contracted to receive the benefit from the service, and in this case, Google Ireland, an entity outside Kenya,” Google Kenya adds.
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