•This year the finance bill 2024 has proposed a raft of revenue measures that will see Kenyans pay more even for items that had initially been exempted from taxation.
•Ndirangu says the proposal on car tax should be suspended to enable the country increase its insurance penetration.
Image: JACKTONE LAWI
Tax experts want the government to disclose revenues generated from measures instituted in last year's Finance Act before effecting new changes in the 2024 bill.
The Finance Bill 2024 has proposed a raft of revenue measures that will see Kenyans pay more even for items that were initially taxation exempt.
Tax lawyer and Partner at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, Alex Kanyi says tax increases should be tied to service provision as people want to see what the government is doing with their taxes.
“A good start should be how much taxes have we collected this year so far and how much of that for example is attributed to measures that were introduced in the Finance Act 2023, how have we used those taxes then you are able explain the gap and say we introduced these taxes but didn’t collect more that’s why we want to introduce more to close the gap,” Kanyi told the Star.
Equity Group company secretary and head of tax Lydia Ndirangu warned that part of provisions in the bill risks wiping out the gains made in the financial sector.
She noted that in the banking sector, the excise duty has been a good balance, but with the introduction of VAT there is a likelihood that many Kenyans will revert back to cash economy to escape high transaction costs.
“With introduction of VAT at 16 percent plus the excise duty already in place, effectively it means that for financial transactions the tax has increased cumulatively to 39 percent, this will make people reduce the transactions they may have and move away from using normal channels,” said Ndirangu.
She added that the insurance sector has already taken a hit with majority of motorists taking up third party insurance and a with a new tax it is unclear how they will collect it from those on the third party package.
Ndirangu says the proposal on car tax should be suspended to enable the country increase its insurance penetration.
“In addition, introducing motor vehicle tax to the insurance that currently has a 3 percent penetration will see people reduce spend on insurance,” said Ndirangu.
The experts were speaking in Nairobi even as the Finance Committee gears for public participation before presenting its report to the the National Assembly for debate and amendments or outright approval.
Among the proposals is the amendment of the Income Tax Act to include deductible expenses such as contributions made to the Social Health Insurance Fund, deductions made by an employer from employees for the affordable housing levy and a contribution to a post-retirement medical fund subject to a limit of ten thousand shillings per month.
To onboard electronic tax administration to seal tax avoidance, the Bill proposes to provide for the requirement to integrate the electronic tax system to the data management and reporting system, for the purposes of submission of electronic documents.
To offer clarity on timelines for lodging tax returns, the Bill has proposed that weekends and public holidays be excluded when determining statutory timelines under tax laws.
The Bill also seeks to change the manner in which time is computed under tax laws for purposes of among others, lodging of tax returns, payment of taxes and submission of documents by excluding weekends and public holidays.
This means that under tax laws, the computation of time will be based on business days instead of calendar days.
Another significant provision in the Bill is the proposal to amend the Public Finance Management Act to make provision for implementation of accrual accounting in Government.
Recent times have witnessed rife discussions in the public sector on the merits of shifting from cash to the accrual basis of accounting, a move geared to enhancing fiscal reporting.
The Accrual basis of accounting is an accounting method that requires revenues and expenditures to be recorded in the financial statements when they are earned and incurred respectively, while cash basis of accounting is an accounting method that requires transactions to be recorded only when cash flow has occurred.
The main difference between the accrual and cash basis of accounting lies in the timing of when revenue and expenses are recognised.