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{
    "id": 1332873,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1332873/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 522,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kitui Rural, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Mwalika",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "There are a few very important proposals. One is that the National Treasury should be able to go through and improve it so that it can be a good policy. There is a need to provide for policy concerns, objectives, actions and outcomes, which are lacking in it. There is also a proposal to expand the tax base to include a digital economy. This is a sector which has been expanding. There are so many players in it and there is a lot of money we can make from there. There is also a proposal to expand the informal and agricultural sectors. Agriculture contributes about 24 per cent of GDP, yet it contributes less than 5 per cent of tax revenue in this country. The policy also provides for budgetary funding to ensures the settlement of tax refunds. There are so many companies and businesses which are owed a lot of refunds by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Therefore, they keep on going to KRA to look for their refunds and this is affecting their operations and businesses. The provision for funding for the refunds should be provided in the budget so that at least these people can get their refunds. There are what we call incentives and exemptions. These should only target manufacturing and investment. They should be sustained for not less than five years so that they can spur economic growth. The other one is excise duty. Currently, we are imposing excess excise duty on each thing. Excise duty is supposed to be for luxury goods. We are suggesting that excise duty should go to luxury goods and communication services and not essential goods like food, medicine and extras. The policy should also eliminate double taxation. When we tax our goods and expand them to our neighbouring countries, they become very expensive. Hon. Temporary Speaker, it is not bad to tax but there is an extent to which you can tax. We have overdone it on some goods like cigarettes and beer. If you go to the Kenyan borders with her neighbours – Busia and Namanga – most of the cigarettes and beer consumed by Kenyans in those areas come from our neighbouring countries because they are cheaper there than in Kenya. We also need to look at why we should keep taxing some of these sectors. Some sectors are highly taxed like gambling and gaming. Sometimes I wonder why we should not as a country say we do not require some of these sectors and do away with them. 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"
}