Finance Bill tabled in Parliament

By Peter Ochieng

The Finance Bill, 2023 has formally been tabled in the National Aseembly.

Francis Kimani Kuria, Molo MP and chairman of the departmental committee on finance and planning tabled the bill few minutes to 10pm on Tuesday.

Kuria said the bill has made several proposals in various sectors and sub-sectors, that play major role in spurring Kenya’s economic growth.

"Some of these sectors include but are not limited to manufacturing, digital and creative economy, climate change, petroleum products, tax administration, housing among others," said the second term legislature.

Kuria said among the amendments in the bill include reduction of withholding tax on online content creation, from the proposed 15 per cent to 3 per cent.

The finance committee however retained the 16 per cent VAT proposal on petroleum products, from the previous 8 per cent under the former regime.

"Contrary to the public narratives, the committee made several amendments to proposals in the bill that would have been unfair to the tax payers if passed. The amendments by the committee ensure fair tax administration. The Committee agreed to delete the requirement to deposit 20% security by a party in a tax dispute noting on unconstitutionality of the proposal limiting a party’s right to access to justice," added Kuria.

The Kuria led committee also slashed the proposed housing levy from 3 per cent to 1.5 per cent.

"The Committee agreed to amend the proposal on the Housing Fund by making it a levy as opposed to a contribution so that the funds can be appropriated directly to fund the housing initiative under Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda. Additionally, in response to the stakeholders’ submissions the rate was reduced to a manageable rate of 1.5%."

The chairman said the report is about 500 pages.

Speaker Moses Wetang'ula urged MPs who have been 'prosecuting the bill in funerals' to avail themselves in the House for debate.

The debate is set to start at 9am, today.