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{
    "id": 1498212,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498212/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 372,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nandi Hills, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Bernard Kitur",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to this very important Bill - the County Governments (Revenue Raising Process) Bill. This is a very timely Bill. It breathes life into Article 209 of the Constitution. It provides for how county governments can work with the national Government on revenue-raising measures. Article 209 on power to impose taxes and charges states that county governments must have taxes that allow national mobility of goods, services, capital or labour and equity across their counties. When I say this Bill is timely, it is because it is before us now. It is going to create the harmonisation of how county governments will impose taxes. There will be no more haphazard imposition of taxes. If any county wants to impose a tax, there will be a set-out means of doing so. It will have to explain why it wants to impose a tax or levy, amongst many other things that it will have to explain. It also has to submit the same to the national Treasury. The Inter-Agency Transitional Committee – to me, it is very representative – will have the national Treasury officials, the Commission of Revenue Allocation (CRA), the Inter-governmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) - which works to actualise what has been given for the county governments and the national Government to work together - the Council of Governors (CoG), and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which is the body that excises taxes. When all those agencies work to make sure that any tax that any county imposes is harmonised, it will create a level playing ground in this nation in terms of taxation. I am also impressed that the Committee has been given a two-year period to harmonise the various county taxes and levies. The period can still be extended if it does not finish its job within that time. However, this indicates that in under two years or so, we will have a very harmonised tax regime in various counties in our country. That, to me, means a lot. We have had cases where county governments have, sometimes, engaged the revenue authority or any other designated persons for revenue collection. In some counties, business tills and pay bill numbers have been created for various things. We have been told that, sometimes, the payments are re-routed to private entities. Those are some of the things that this Bill will cure."
}