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{
    "id": 1003258,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1003258/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 342,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Prof.) Jacqueline Oduol",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13514,
        "legal_name": "Jacquiline Adhiambo Oduol",
        "slug": "jacqueline-adhiambo-oduol"
    },
    "content": "It is also of great joy that a key area like taxation of the retirees’ income was taken into account and addressed. I agree and support the proposals because of the manner they are addressing the needs and seeking to look into them. I am seated in this Parliament as a nominated Member whose nomination by and large acknowledges the way society is organized. We should not only look at income issues given the manner in which we look at whether people are in paid employment or the informal sector, but also at the patterns of consumption I acknowledge and respect the manner I have heard Members seek to get the National Assembly to take into consideration that when we tax, remove VAT or touch on matters that engage consumption such as gas and digital economy taxes, we make some very specific groups disadvantaged. It is clear as we have indicated that if we engage and implement LPG taxation on gas to some degree, women by virtue of their role and consumption will be particularly disadvantaged. Equally, when we look at the digital economy tax, the youth to that extent will be disadvantaged. What I want to say in a way might be belated because it is three years to my being here in the National Assembly. I rise to persuade the Committee that as it looks at the Finance Bill or any other proposals, it wears lens. This has increasingly become a lot of a cliché. That is why I want to persuade the House and all of us to be aware of the manner in which we make proposals. This is particularly if we are making proposals on a fundamental area such as taxation or the needs of the general population and citizens as clearly indicated in this House. We should not shy away from what has been proved to be the manner that would enable us deal with digital economy taxation, not just when it comes to our attention that it is the youth and then we are dealing with digital economy taxation or that when we are talking about unga, then we think of the unga eating zones. As I thank the Committee and support the Finance Bill, I am seeking that when we look at the proposals that we make, we ensure every time we take account of how these proposals will affect the citizenry by virtue of the way that some members of the citizenry are male or female, women, girls, men and boys. For example, let me speak to the minimum tax. I commend the Committee because I have seen that this is a proposal that is working and is one that has been found to be useful in other countries. However, what I note is that in those other countries, when we are going to talk about minimum tax whether there is loss or not, there has been consideration made that businesses must have been at a loss over a period of time. Significantly also when we are looking at this idea, then we will be seeking to look at the manner that all the businesses that are enjoying the Government infrastructure here in Kenya will not just be included in this taxation and, therefore, required to pay this minimum tax without considering the factors that could be leading to their losses. I feel that if we look at what I would want to see as gender lens, we might find that there would be circumstances where those businesses that would be suffering from a loss and which businesses we would then be subjecting to taxation by assuming that they have the same contextual experiences and access to loans, the kind of workload that they have, we would find that a lot of the businesses that might indeed have been making losses might be doing so because of the general structural arrangements. This is not only of access to loans in banks which we know we have continued to try to improve but also because of the kind of role, assignments and indeed that which might prevent them from getting the kind of success or profits that they would make. I would like to encourage the Committee to take this into account. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}