Tax Deducted From Teachers.
According to the latest public audit encircling the span to June 2021, the abnormal payments may have seeped some Ksh.3 billion and allotted irrecoverable salary advances to educators.
The audit further indicates that the commission refused to remit over Ksh.2 billion in levies withdrawn from staff.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu depicted in the audit that some of the missing funds had been ancient with the likelihood that ghost teachers were given money between the years 1988 and 2000 when the educators were still given money in cash and not through the banks.
TSC is believed to have advanced Ksh.10.5 million in salary advances, without documenting while the remainder were not recouped at all.
“Further, Ksh.4,264,665 given to 145 personnel had no action over the last 12 months. The administration did not provide any explanation for the non-recovery of the income advances” Ms Gathungu drew.
Ironically, TSC staff whose salary advances were not being reimbursed proceeded to draw more salary advances, bringing up the query of possible conspiracy to misuse funds allocated to the commission.
TSC could not justify how it overpaid personnel Ksh.352 million which it had neglected to reclaim in years.
Teachers were overpaid Ksh.33 million under unspecific conditions, money the Auditor General shall never be recovered.
“Review of the comprehensive analysis of the payroll submitted for the financial year 2020/2021 indicated that 32 teachers had an exceptional ‘salary overpayment’ amounting to Sh33,780,614,” Gathungu wrote.
“Nonetheless, the repayment duration for recovery of the huge amounts is beyond the retirement age of those teachers. The recoverability of the remainder is hence doubtful.”
One teacher had Ksh.4.8 million overpayments, being recovered at Ksh9,056. This would require 44 years to recoup, an impossible duration to be in employment, believing the teacher had finished probation before that advance was granted.
While most government organizations ask for KRA tax compliance before employment, some 5000 TSC staff are not obliging because their taxes totalling Ksh.2.2 billion has never been remitted to KRA.