Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1043639,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1043639/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 271,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nambale, ANAC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Sakwa Bunyasi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "cent. On the face of it, it looks possible. But it is also possible you will not collect the revenues you were collecting pre-COVID-19. There were many underlying factors that made revenue collection decline pre-COVID-19 from a high, at one time, of 23 per cent of the GDP to below 15 per cent where we are now. Some of the underlying factors have been raised by colleagues on the Floor. I know the CS for National Treasury is in a tight corner because of the out turn of revenue. But if we are going to grow the economy, we should ask ourselves: When do we increase taxes to collect revenue and do something else, assuming that resources in the public sector can be used efficiently? We have not demonstrated that. In fact, it looks like for every shilling you transfer from a household to the hands of the Government, probably 60 per cent of it will disappear somewhere along the line. It may not be visible when ordinary people in the village spend. But they spend because they have a bit more money in their hands. We sustain the economy, as it were. So, let us not rush and agree that increasing taxes is the best thing to do. This would have been a good time for the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, apart from giving us the mathematics of the argument, to get some data on what has happened during the time of the reduction. What would it have been in terms of growth of the economy if we had not reduced the taxes? So, I am uncomfortable completely at a time when we are not yet at the peak of COVID-19 challenges to move back VAT to 16 per cent. We are not anywhere near a flat curve. Those who think we might be there will completely be surprised. Therefore, this is not probably the right time to attempt to move the taxes back high up. So, this Bill needs to be considered very carefully. It is limited to the arithmetic of revenue collection based on percentages. But I think the impact to the economy is far from being properly assessed. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}