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{
    "id": 1156083,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1156083/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 198,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Amb. Ukur Yatani",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and Planning",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "objection on assessed tax. The Act does not specify the number of times that the Commissioner can request for such information on a particular case. This prolongs the determination of tax disputes as additional information can be requested severally, and any request for additional information provides the Commissioner with additional 60 days to make a decision. In order to address this gap, I propose to amend the Act to require the Commissioner to issue a decision on objection by a taxpayer within one cycle of 60 days from the date of receiving a valid objection by a taxpayer. Hon. Speaker, Kenya ratified and deposited the Multilateral Convention for Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAC) with the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information on Tax Matters in July 2020. Under this Convention, Kenya is expected to exchange information on tax matters with tax jurisdictions that are members of the forum. In order to promote greater tax transparency among multinational enterprises, I propose to amend the Income Tax Act to require multinational enterprises which have operations in Kenya to report their activities within Kenya and in other jurisdictions to the Commissioner General, KRA. Hon. Speaker, the Statutory Instruments Act that became effective in 2013, provides for automatic expiry of statutory instruments after 10 years from the date of their publication. In this respect, there are several tax related regulations issued in accordance with the Act as well as some that were issued prior to the enactment of the Act that will expire after the 10 year period. The expiry of these instruments will negatively affect tax administration and revenue collection. In this regard, I propose to amend the Statutory Instruments Act to exempt the tax related regulations under various tax laws from automatic expiry provided under the Act. Hon. Speaker, this administration has implemented socio-economic transformative programs under a devolved system of Government that required enormous financial resources. At the same time the country was confronted by some degree of security challenges, the twin global challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the locust invasion that impacted on food security. In the midst of all these, the Government has successfully maintained macro- economic stability, achieved growth rates above that of the sub-Saharan Africa region and improved welfare of Kenyans. In conclusion, therefore, our sustained investments since 2013 have significantly transformed our economy and strengthened our resilience. Encouraged by this, our economy has bounced back giving our people incredible optimism even in situations of extreme challenges. We are proud of our socio-economic achievements and seek to sustain higher economic growth so as to improve the welfare of our people. Considering the envisaged development agenda and the limited fiscal space, we have carefully balanced the difficult choices in resource allocation in order to finance the highest priorities that will propel this country to greater heights of prosperity. I am confident that we have made the right decisions that will accelerate the pace of our economic growth. At this point, I wish to thank His Excellency the President, Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, for his leadership and guidance which has transformed this country into a regional economic hub."
}