Nandi teachers ask government to revisit Finance Bill, 2023

Kapsabet, Tuesday, May 9, 2023

KNA by Laban Kiplimo/Geoffrey Satia

The government should come up with a housing scheme which ensures that the housing taxes imposed on the individuals will eventually benefit those being taxed.

A section of teachers in Nandi County has specifically rejected the proposed three percent housing tax terming the increase unnecessary and uncalled for.

They claimed that the Finance Bill, 2023 was just another attempt to raid government workers’ pay slips which are already loaded with other taxes and unmatched personal loans and called on Parliament to reject the bill.

According to the branch Secretary General of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Nandi North Sub-County Josephat Serem, teachers who will retire soon will be burdened by the three percent housing tax should the Parliament approve the bill.

Serem said that such teachers will not benefit eventually as many of them already have houses and the deductions on their salaries will not accumulate to the point of affording them houses of the proposed scheme.

“Some of these teachers go home with only four thousand shillings at the end of the month,” said the teachers’ representative while referring to the many deductions made on the teachers’ salaries and pointed out that salary increment would be welcome as opposed to deductions.

Speaking to KNA on phone, Serem said that salaries paid to teachers now cannot accommodate further taxes and that there was a need for salary increment following the recent unprecedented rise in prices of consumer goods.

“About 99 percent of us won’t live in those houses. Surely how do you contribute to something which eventually you will not benefit from?” posed a teacher who sought anonymity in Kapsabet town.

The teachers said that despite the fact that the other taxes such as National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) are unwelcome, they are at least understandable.

Finance Bill, 2023 was tabled in Parliament last week and has since elicited mixed reactions among the salaried workers. The National Treasury is seeking to raise the revenue collection, a move that has characterized the Kenya Kwanza government since it entered into office last year.

The Bill is expected to contain tax proposals to aid in the attainment of the government’s objectives in the 2023/24 fiscal year. These proposals will include proposed amendments to various tax statutes such as the Income Tax Act and the Value Added Tax.

Courtesy; K.N.A