Kenyans willing to pay taxes but heartbroken by misuse and wastage – report

National Taxpayers Association CEO Patrick Nyangweso/FILE

Majority of Kenyans are unsure whether the government deserves to be trusted with their taxes, holding the view that it is okay to avoid taxes if there is no visible development.  

According to a taxpayers’ perception survey for 2025, Kenya is not a country of people running from taxes. If anything, Kenyans are willing, deeply willing to finance their nation’s development.

The findings of the survey paint a stark picture of a widening "trust deficit," where citizens feel their patriotism is being punished by misuse, waste and a lack of visible results from their tax payments.

The findings indicate that the social contract is under severe strain. Nearly half of Kenyans (48.6per cent) believe avoiding taxes is understandable if the government fails to deliver services, signaling that compliance is conditional on visible accountability.

The survey by National Taxpayers association shows that 70.7per cent of Kenyans prefer raising domestic taxes to relying on foreign loans.

“This reflects strong fiscal self-reliance and national sovereignty values. However, persistent tax protests and skepticism highlight that resistance to taxation stems more from poor service delivery, corruption and lack of accountability than unwillingness to pay,” said National Taxpayers Association CEO Patrick Nyangweso.

The findings portray a picture that for many citizens, taxation is not the problem, misuse, waste and the silence after the money leaves their pockets is.

NTA notes that tax morale is slowly collapsing under the weight of a widening trust deficit.

But the same Kenyans who support domestic resource mobilization overwhelmingly believe the government does not use their taxes transparently.

An estimated 68 per cent say public spending is “not transparent” or “completely not transparent.” Showing that Kenyans are willing to shoulder the burden, yet feel punished for their patriotism.

Such is the feeling of Grace Mugo a small shop owner in Kawangware, she barely makes Sh1,200 on a good day. She sells airtime, sugar, flour and a few loaves of bread. Everything is taxed.

On paper, Mugo is contributing to nation-building, but she says she cannot point to a single government service she receives.

“I don’t refuse to pay taxes,” she says softly, leaning against her kiosk. “But what are we paying for? The school is still full, the clinic has no medicine, the garbage stays two weeks before collection. You start feeling like the money disappears somewhere.”

The survey echoes her concern, with 51 per cent of Kenyans now saying that they do not understand how the national government uses tax money, even of greater concern is the majority 75.1 per cent who say they have no idea how counties spend their revenues.

The failure to link taxes with government services has seen nearly half of Kenyans (About 48.6 per cent) polled feeling that it is right to avoid taxes if no services are being rendered.

Nearly half the country feels morally justified in withholding payment—not out of stubbornness, but self-protection.

“There is a nearly even split in attitudes toward taxation and government accountability. About 48.6per cent of respondents felt that avoiding taxes is understandable when the government fails to deliver good services, while 47.8per cent viewed paying taxes as a civic duty regardless of service quality,” the report says in part.

“This split validates the philosophical tension captured in the survey. It confirms that Kenyan compliance is conditional (aligned with the Benefit Theory), rather than inherently.”

For people like John Oduor, a boda rider in Nairobi, taxes feel like punishment without reward.

“The government has never helped me, even here in the CBD we are sometimes forced to pay askaris to operate yet they do not want to even set designated parking spots ” he says bluntly.

“When they stop me, it’s not to teach me anything it’s to demand. Every year it’s a new levy, a new form, a new rule. But I’m still the one buying fuel at high taxes, fixing potholes with my own money and paying my own hospital bills.”

He pauses, then adds something telling, “If I saw what they do with it, I wouldn’t complain. But you can’t tell me to sacrifice when you are not sacrificing too.”

His words mirror the report’s core insight, tax compliance in Kenya is conditional—not automatic. Citizens want to trust the government, but they need proof that the system is not rigged against them.

The report notes that only 48.6 per cent of respondents believe they have received any tax-funded services at all. Nearly half of Kenyans feel disconnected from the benefits of their own contributions.

And that disconnect grows sharper with lower education levels. Among Kenyans with no formal education, only 23.86 pe cent recognise any tax-funded service they receive.

This means millions of citizens, especially the poor cannot see the value of the money they are required to surrender.

The findings confirm what most Kenyans already know instinctively, VAT is the most experienced tax, at 53.3 per cent.

It is embedded in everything bread, soap, transport, fuel, sugar. It is the silent tax, the unavoidable one, the one that hits hardest when you are poor.

But VAT is also the tax least associated with services, for instance a mother buying a taxed loaf of bread does not connect that money to a road in Isiolo or a dispensary in Kiambu.

Compounding the problem is a critical communication gap. Only 12.2 per cent of Kenyans have ever attended tax or governance training and 42 per cent find tax information difficult to understand, leaving millions to navigate a complex system without guidance.

“Most respondents rely on social media (33 per cent), WhatsApp groups (19.7per cent), TV (16.0per cent) and radio (10.2 per cent) for information about taxes and the Finance Bill, indicating that digital and mass media are key tools for public engagement,” the report reads.

But according to the report, only 17 people nationwide received feedback out of 1,369 respondents, confirming their views were considered during the 2025 finance bill public participation.

It confirms what many people feel: public participation is performative, almost ceremonial. The decisions feel pre-made. The consultations feel symbolic.

According to the findings, this is why the 2024-25 Finance Bill protests turned into a national movement. Kenyans were not just rejecting tax proposals, they were rejecting a system that does not listen.

And yet, despite frustration, pain and distrust, most Kenyans still believe in the purpose of taxation, with 84.8per cent saying taxes are critical for the country’s success.

It means the government is not facing a hostile population, it is facing a wounded one.

If transparency improves, if communication becomes clearer, if citizens see services matching their sacrifices, the willingness to comply will rise again.