High Court suspends new KRA tariffs on used car imports over public participation concerns

The High Court has issued a temporary order halting the implementation of the Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) revised Current Retail Selling Price (CRSP) schedule for imported used vehicles, pending the hearing and determination of a legal challenge.

Justice Joe Omido on Monday certified as urgent and granted interim orders in a case filed by Faith Akinyi seeking to stop the rollout of the revised CRSP schedule, which was set to take effect on July 1, 2025.

"Pending the hearing and determination of the application inter partes, the circular dated May 22, 2025 under Ref: C&BC/HQ/1 titled "Forwarding of the updated CRSP list", and the Kenya Revenue Authority notice on vehicles imported into the country, Be and is hereby stayed and/or suspended", the judge ordered.

The order stays both the circular dated May 22, 2025 (Ref: C\&BC/HQ/1) titled "Forwarding of the Updated CRSP List" and a public notice dated May 30, 2025, published on KRA's website.

Public participation

The petitioner argues that the new CRSP list was introduced without meaningful public participation, in violation of constitutional requirements under Article 10 and Article 201, which mandate inclusive engagement in legislative and public finance processes.

While KRA stated that it had consulted "stakeholders," the petitioner contends that such consultations were narrowly confined to car dealers, excluding consumers and the general public.

The court has been urged to compel KRA to produce proof of the identities of these so-called stakeholders and details of the engagement process.

Further, the petition claims that the CRSP schedule—issued by KRA's Commissioner for Customs and Border Control and Commissioner General—derives its authority from Section 122 and the Fourth Schedule of the EAC Customs Act and is, therefore, subject to Article 94(6) of the Constitution.

Procedural requirements

Consequently, the CRSP qualifies as a statutory instrument under the Statutory Instruments Act and should have complied with procedural requirements, including laying before Parliament, which it allegedly failed to do.

The petitioner also challenges the 30-day implementation notice, terming it unreasonable, arbitrary, and a violation of Article 47 of the Constitution, which guarantees fair administrative action.

It is argued that the short notice period fails to account for the legitimate expectations of importers and the public who placed vehicle shipment orders under the existing 2019 CRSP schedule.

Citing industry practice, the petition highlights that a typical vehicle import process—spanning procurement, shipping, and clearance—can take between 3 to 6 months. As such, the abrupt shift risks unfairly penalising importers who had already committed funds based on the previous valuation framework.

The court suspended the implementation of the revised CRSP list until July 17, 2025, and directed that the application, petition, and all related documents be served on the respondents.

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• High Court suspends new KRA tariffs on used car imports over public participation concerns
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"The impugned CRSP was hurriedly assembled and is pervaded with fundamental errors and omissions that impugn its certainty as a tax base. For instance, it omits and/or fails to provide for several vehicle models that are imported into the country by car dealers and individual customers. In other instances, it erroneously matches car models with non-existent features, including wrong fuel types, chassis numbers and attaches different values to the same car model. Some of these vehicles are already on the high seas en route to the country," reads court papers.