The most recent schedule published by the saccos regulator states that non-withdrawable deposit taking saccos will pay a discounted annual levy instead of the current 0.175 percent paid by deposit-takers. The levy is computed as a percentage of the money that an organization has on hand.
The annual levy for non-deposit taking entities under the supervision of the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) is set at 0.1 percent of the total amount of non-withdrawable deposits held by the entity as of the end of the previous financial year (to June 2023).
If a sacco’s sole source of income is the receipt of deposits that are not withdrawable for the term of membership and may be used as security for loans and domestic money transfers, then the sacco is considered non-withdrawable deposit-taking.
Since 2010, Sasra has been in charge of overseeing deposit-taking saccos, with the Commissioner for Co-ops overseeing the remaining ones.
But in 2020, Sasra’s authority was increased to include overseeing saccos that had non-withdrawable deposits of at least Sh100 million.
All non-deposit taking saccos that organize membership and subscriptions to share capital through digital or other electronic payment platforms, as well as those that share capital from individuals living outside of Kenya, are now subject to Sasra regulations.
Compared to the 0.175 percent that deposit-taking saccos pay on their total deposits, subject to a maximum of Sh10 million, the 0.1 percent levy, capped at Sh6 million, is a discount.
In a notice published in the gazette last Friday, Sasra stated that the levy “shall be based on the total non-withdrawable deposits held by the sacco society as indicated by the audited financial statements of the Sacco society for the immediately preceding financial year.”
Credit: PATRICK ALUSHULA | BD
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