Nairobi, Aug. 16 -- Workers, traders and employers risk bank account freezes, asset seizures and PIN deactivation as the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) prepares to launch a crackdown on housing levy defaulters.

Changes to the law, which took effect on July 1, allow the KRA to enforce collection of unpaid levies through tough measures deployed on tax cheats and defaulters.

The KRA has been collecting the levy equivalent to 1.5 percent of gross pay or income from July 2024, but lacked the legal powers to crack down on defaulters, allowing thousands of workers and firms to evade payment.

The Finance Act 2026 plugged the loophole and offered the KRA higher commissions for the taxman on collection of housing levies, whose collection in the y...