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{
    "id": 1043562,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1043562/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 194,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": "money to people to spend or should they be buying vaccines for them despite the fact that vaccines would be cheaper? It has also been proved that even as people were being stimulated to spend, they ended up saving the money because they were not sure about tomorrow. Therefore, the stimulation effect that has been required in the economy to make it grow has not actually been achieved. We know that from the July to September figures, I believe the revenue collection fell short by about Kshs50 billion. We only received about Kshs378 billion instead of Kshs428 billion and that is only one quarter. If you project this, even by the time we are through with four quarters, we will be short by close to Kshs200 billion and that means a lot. It means we can only plug that hole because we have committed all the expenditure. We can only plug that hole through borrowing and every time any of us speaks, we say we are over exposed on our loans and debt levels. So, the only way we can stop that is to try and recoup some of the revenue. Yes, it is an experiment, it worked for the nine months. We have been fortunate because of all these measures, our fatality rate is not as bad compared to other countries with the same case load. We have mitigated and people have also become more responsible and adjusted to living in the new normal. So, let us go back to the original normal in terms of our taxes. In terms of the minimum tax, I know there has been a lot of debate and the Hon. Chair has alluded to some of them. Stakeholders have asked why they should pay taxes if they make losses, but surely, how do you continue in business year in year out after making losses? It will come down to your capital. It does not make sense to continue in business if you are making losses. So, they are artificial losses. We know there are people who are very good in tax avoidance. You can avoid using the loopholes provided using the tax laws. You can avoid to pay tax. Tax evasion is a problem and a classic example is the people within the USA including the top leadership in the country where it has been proved that despite being billionaires, the amount of tax they have been paying is minimal or they even claim refunds from the State because that is allowed within the tax laws. However, you cannot continue filling in lost returns every year and yet you are relying on public infrastructure. You are the first one to complain when there is no power, security and potholes next to your business and yet you do not pay tax and even claim a refund from the system. So, the minimum tax, and I believe it has been debated, came from that perspective. The issue within the Bill is not about the rationale whether there should be a minimum tax or not. It is just that the wording that was put was you pay the minimum tax if it is lower than the instalment tax, in which case everyone would have gone for the one per cent. However, we are correcting that wording but people have opened up a whole new floor."
}