By Wilfridah Murenga
Gideon Moi, the National Chairman of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), has recently voiced his criticism of the tax proposals presented by the Kenya Kwanza government in the Finance Bill 2024.
According to Moi, the decision to increase taxes in an effort to tackle the budget deficit would only serve to add an unnecessary burden on the shoulders of Kenyan citizens.
The former Baringo senator has urged the members of parliament to reject the Finance Bill 2024, in its entirety.
According to Gideon, economic experts have concurred that the country’s challenge lies not in generating revenue, but in managing its expenditures.
“Economic experts agree that Kenya does not face a revenue problem but an expenditure issue. Increasing taxes in an attempt to address the budget deficit places an unnecessary burden on Kenyans. Therefore, the National Assembly must reject the Finance Bill, 2024, in its entirety,” said Moi.
Moi also noted that the suggested changes to sections of the bill that outline very unpopular tax measures have been overridden by new stringent proposals that were included in the bill.
“The proposed amendments to clauses of the bill prescribing highly unpopular taxation measures have been cancelled out by other equally punitive proposals slipped into the bill,” noted the KANU Chairman.
The KANU Chairman further highlighted that higher taxation does not necessarily results in higher revenue, pointing out Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) failure to meet its expected tax revenue targets after implementing stringent tax measures outlined in the Finance Bill, 2023.
Moi indicated that the government should give priority to Industrialization instead of relying solely on taxation to gradually broaden the tax base.
“To achieve economic prosperity, Kenya must prioritize Industrialization Over Taxation to progressively expand the tax base,” said the KANU Chairman.
The proposed Finance Bill 2024, was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday 18,2024. It is currently being debated in the National Assembly and will be voted on today Thursday afternoon.