Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani has gazetted the Finance Act, 2021 days after assent by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In the gazette notice, some sections of the new law get into effect today (July 1) while others will begin in January 1, 2022.
"This Act may be cited as the Finance Act, 2021, and shall come into operation, or be deemed to have come into operation, as follows— (a) sections 9, 10, 13, 14, 19, 21(a), 21(b), 21(e), 40, 50, 58, 60, 73, 75, and 76, on the 1st January, 2022," the notice stated.
The Financial Act of 2021 introduces amendments to various tax-related Acts of Parliament (Income tax, VAT, Exercise Duty, Tax Procedures and Miscellaneous fees and Levies) as well as other related statutes in the public finance sector including the Insurance Act, the Capital Markets Act, the Retirements Benefits Act, the Central Depositories Act, and the Stamp Duty Act.
The Bill proposed by Treasury, according CS Yatani seeks to help create a legal and policy framework to help the government achieve its medium-term budget goals.
President Uhuru Kenyatta assented to four Parliamentary Bills on June 29, in accordance with Article 115(1)(a) of the Constitution.
The bills include the Appropriation Bill 2021, the Second Supplementary Appropriation Act 2021, the County Allocation of Revenue Act, and the Finance Bill 2021.
The Appropriation Act 2021 authorises issuance of funds from the Consolidated Fund in furtherance of the budget for the Financial Year 2021/2022.
The Act also facilitates the expenditure of the gross total budget of Sh1.9 trillion for the Executive, Parliament, and the Judiciary, which comprises a total of Sh1.2 trillion for recurrent expenditure Sh668 billion for development expenditure.
The Second Supplementary Appropriation Act achieves a net reduction of Sh8.1 billion, which comprises a reduction of Sh16.6 billion for recurrent expenditure and an increment of Sh84 billion for development expenditure.
