The Kenyan ministry of finance is planning to bring back some of the taxes in the defunct controversial Finance Bill in a new attempt to widen tax net, raise more revenues and slash borrowings.

Kenyan lawmakers were forced to drop the bill after weeks of protests which led to the deaths of not less than 61 people.

The taxes that formed part of the Finance Bill 2024 and aimed to raise additional 344 billion shillings ($2.7 billion) in the current fiscal year were scrapped following the youth-led demonstrations.

President William Ruto was equally forced to sack his entire cabinet, including then-Treasury Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u and cut down on the cost of governance.

“Our team is already working on some of those proposals that were in the Finance Bill 2024, which we can now put together and take back to parliament, not as a Finance Bill, but as other proposals,” John Mbadi, the new treasury head, said Monday, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Mbadi said a public consultation will be done in order to avoid a repeat of what brought economic activities in the most advanced east African economy to a halt for weeks.

“We will do extensive public participation because we don’t want to be blamed again, to be accused of introducing things that are insensitive without considering the plight and concerns of Kenyans,” he said.

Some of the proposed taxes had included increasing levies on essentials such as bread and diapers.

The abandoned bill had been the second since Ruto came to power in 2022.

The Ruto-led government had first introduced a contentious housing tax, doubled value-added tax on fuel and hiked the rate for the top salary-tax band to 35 percent.

Ruto’s administration has been under pressure to shore up tax collection and slash borrowing under a $3.6 billion funding program agreed with the International Monetary Fund to address Kenya’s debt vulnerabilities.

At about 70 percent of gross domestic product, its debt is considered at high risk of distress.

The Treasury had to revise its budget to accommodate the drop in expected revenue after it abandoned the new proposals, thereby widening its fiscal deficit to 4.2 percent of gross domestic product from an initial 3.3 percent.



“It would be wrong and an insult to the people of Kenya to reintroduce the finance bill,” Mbadi said. “But there are provisions in that bill that would have helped the country to grow.”

Measures under consideration include extending a tax amnesty and plugging leakages through “fictitious” value-added tax refunds, Mbadi said.

About 65 percent of the Kenya’s 525 billion shillings of tax expenditure was in refunds, he said. Some critical commodities that have a direct impact on the cost of living will be tax-exempt, rather than zero-rated, Mbadi said.

Zero-rated goods are not taxed at the point of sale but producers can claim VAT on inputs, while makers of exempt goods can’t demand such refunds.

Throwback:
It cannot be escaped.

Protest or no protest, government must always raise funds to run the country.

I will only advise every government to focus on more taxing for the fat cats who cannot even stage a protest in the midst of the luxury they already enjoy. But not too much taxation that prevents their creation of jobs for the ever angry mob.

To run campaign as a populist supported by the youth, is not the same reality with taking hard decisions as a leader for the greater good.

oneMalik:
NO nation in the world can prosper without Tax .... all those protesters are just wasting their life and time .

Govt needs money .

Throwback:
It cannot be escaped.

Protest or no protest, government must always raise funds to run the country.

I will only advise every government to focus on more taxing for the fat cats who cannot even stage a protest in the midst of the luxury they already enjoy. But not too much taxation that prevents their creation of jobs for the ever angry mob.

To run campaign as a populist supported by the youth, is not the same reality with taking hard decisions as a leader for the greater good.

MANNABBQGRIĹLS:
“It would be wrong and an insult to the people of Kenya to reintroduce the finance bill,
But there are provisions in that bill that would have helped the country to grow.”

Are taxes good for the economy?

Tax affects economic growth by reducing consumer spending and lowering incentives to invest.
But different fiscal policies have variable overall economic effects, with taxes on income better than those levied on corporate profits in terms of their wider impact on GDP.


The only problem with our own darling nation is that,
Are the government since 1960 make the good law abiding citizens of Nigeria benefits from the taxes they have been collecting?
And the 2nd and final question is,
How many Nigeria citizens actually pay taxes?

Food for thought.

We Rise ✔️

post=131496332:
Some of the proposed taxes had included increasing levies on essentials such as bread and diapers.

America thrive on Taxes, that is why it is the best country in the world....
Article 1 of the United States Constitution grants the U.S. government the power to establish and collect taxes.

A U.S. resident's income is generally subject to tax in the same manner as a U.S. citizen. If you are a U.S. resident, you must report all interest, dividends, wages, or other compensation for services, income from rental property or royalties, and other types of income on your U.S. tax return. You must report these amounts whether they are earned within or outside the United States.

Make we carry una reach there........

U.S. residents are generally taxed in the same way as U.S. citizens.
This means that their worldwide income is subject to U.S. tax and must be reported on their U.S. tax return.
Income of residents is subject to the graduated tax rates that apply to U.S. citizens

If you want to know how paying taxes later come to help tmits citizens, here we go....

Taxes also fund programs and services that benefit only certain citizens, such as health, welfare, and social services; job training; schools; and parks.
Article 1 of the United States Constitution grants the U.S. government the power to establish and collect taxes.

How much does USA tax its citizens?
Here we go again...

The federal income tax rates remain unchanged for the 2024 tax year at 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%.

Where do US taxes go?

The majority of this revenue is used to pay for government activities (employee salaries, infrastructure maintenance), as well as to pay for goods and services provided to United States citizens and businesses.
In FY 2023, the federal government spent $6.13 trillion.


We will summarize it all in our below post....

CodeTemplar:
running economy is different from building rail that dont generate enough.

CodeTemplar:
How much is Buhari rail generating?

Ikaeniyan0:
So far he carry the people of Kenya along and listen to the people like Tinubu, he will be fine