Kenyans on Monday, November 18, criticised the public participation exercise on the Treasury's new tax proposals, accusing Parliament of suppressing dissenting views.
Yesterday, the National Assembly invited Kenyans for a public participation exercise to give their opinions on six tax proposals from the National Treasury before it compiles a report to be tabled in Parliament where the House will vote to either adopt the proposals or reject them.
The exercise led by the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning was in the counties of Bungoma and Isiolo as they listened to Kenyans' opinions on the adjustments proposed in the Tax Laws Amendment Bills 2024.
The proposed laws will be captured in the Public Finance Management Amendment Bill no.3 of 2024, Public Finance Management Amendment Bill no.4 of 2024, Business Laws Amendment Bill 2024, Tax Procedure Amendment Bill 2024, and Tax Laws Amendment Bill 2024.
The changes are aimed at revising all major tax categories that will see Kenyans remit more revenues once the proposals become laws.
A section of Kenyans have expressed their displeasure with the tax laws, stating that they do not trust the government to use the revenues from the taxes as it should.
"The residents of Isiolo don't have an issue with the taxes, the problem is the government, they are not confident in the government," Kimani Kuria, MP Molo stated.
The tax plan targets the digital space, where a levy of up to 10 per cent will be introduced, 16 per cent of value-added tax on air ticket purchases, and National park entry fees among other proposals.
Alcoholic Beverages, cigarettes, and employment benefits have not been spared in the proposals.
"It's very painful when I have paid taxes, but there are no medicines in the hospitals, roads are depleted, you can't differentiate between a road and a trough," Aden Farole an Isiolo resident said.
"We are now paying for IDs and birth certificates. This taxing regime is too much," Patrick Muniaro, another resident decried.
The Committee chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani is expected to hold four other sessions in Mombasa, Siaya, Taita-Taveta, and Kericho counties on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The new proposals seek to raise more than Ksh170 billion in revenue. The proposals come barely three months after an uproar that saw the Kenyan youth take to the streets to protest against the Finance Bill 2024.
The Committee has refuted the allegation that the government is slowly reintroducing the rejected 2024 Finance Bill.
According to the Committee, the government is banking on the bills to facilitate the delivery of its agenda to Kenyans.
Kenyan residents have complained that the Committee has chosen regions where they will experience less opposition to the proposals.
Only six counties were selected for the exercise on the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Tax Procedures (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Kenyans have claimed that the National Assembly selected areas which they did not anticipate opposition.
