The National Treasury has proposed tax deductions for employers who hire graduates from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions as interns in their organisations.
The proposals are contained in the Finance Bill 2021, which the National Treasury says would promote youth employment as more young people got absorbed as apprentices.
A previous report by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), showed that more top KCSE performers were shunning lucrative University degrees for Technical Diplomas.
According to the 2020 report 2,632 students, some who had scored As, chose not to pursue 'prestigious' degrees in favour of courses offered by TVET institutions.
At the same time, Treasury CS Ukur Yatani stated that the government is proposing to introduce VAT exemptions on ventilators, decongestants and supplements by lowering costs to boost the health sector.
The Finance Bill 2021 also seeks to amend the Income Tax, the VAT Act, the Excise Duty Act, the Tax Procedures Act, the Miscellaneous Fees, and Levies Act, as well as the Capital Markets Act, the Central Depositories Act, the Kenya Revenue Authority Act, the Insurance Act, and the Retirement Benefits Act, to facilitate realisation of the budget proposals.
The treasury also proposed several amendments to enhance tax administration and dispute resolution operations.
"These proposals alongside others contained in the Finance Bill will help create the legal and policy framework to achieve our medium-term budget goals," CS Ukur Yattani stated.
The Treasury further proposed a Ksh3.632 trillion budget to strike a balance between stimulating economic recovery and responding to the health challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"In preparing the estimates we have been very alive to the current challenges of the ongoing pandemic, while ensuring that we continue on a steady path of economic recovery, by investing Ksh 26.6 billion on the Post Covid-19 Economic Stimulus Programme (PC - ESP).
Ksh135.3 billion will be used on the President's Big Four Agenda covering universal healthcare, food and nutrition, manufacturing and affordable housing," noted Yatani.
In the proposed budget, the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary have been allocated Ksh1.879 trillion, Ksh37 billion and Ksh17 billion, respectively, as contained in the 2021 Budget Policy Statement (2021 BPS) approved by Parliament earlier in the year.
