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{
    "id": 1508100,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1508100/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 70,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "When you engage taxpayers - and that is the new spirit with the KRA and the National Treasury - they settle their tax obligations. When you offer a taxpayer the opportunity to waive their penalty and interest in exchange for paying the principal tax, it encourages them to pay. This creates a win-win situation. The taxpayer saves money, and the KRA can enter into payment agreements, allowing taxpayers to pay the principal over a period of, say, six months, while clearing their tax liabilities. With that, the Government also benefits. Let it not be seen as an amendment for the benefit of the business people only. The Government benefits as well. Through the agreement with taxpayers to waive penalties and interest, the Government collects the tax liability earlier than it would have. In most cases, business people end up going either to court or tax tribunals and get into protracted battles with the KRA over the settlement of penalties and tax arrears. We encourage them to pay their principal on time so that the Government can collect more revenue, therefore, offering more and better services to the people of Kenya. Business owners can have part of their penalties and interest waived. This way, they end up with more liquidity in their businesses which grow and create more employment. Eventually, they end up paying more taxes since they have a higher turnover than before. Of course, there are other procedural issues that the Mover has alluded to. I do not want to repeat all of them especially on people who withhold tax and fail to remit it. The Mover has alluded to a penalty of 10 per cent to people who deliberately fail to remit taxes, within the specified times in the statute. This has been a big problem, where people withhold taxes be it VAT or the Withholding Tax. They know the timelines, but choose to trade with Government money. Even the Holy Bible tells us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God. Since the business people go to church on Sunday and give to God what belongs to him, it is only fair that they do not withhold taxes that belong to the taxman, but remit within the specified period of time. A person who fails to submit will incur a penalty for late submission. The Mover has also mentioned transactions that require a Personal Identification Number (PIN). There are situations where people buy cars or transfer land without a PIN. If I can buy a car, it means I have an income and for tax purposes a PIN should be a major prerequisite. You cannot pay insurance premiums if you do not have a source of income. This Bill will ensure that every Kenyan who earns an income whether in or outside Kenya pays taxes. This way, we will encourage a tax position where everyone who earns an income pays their fair tax burden. So, we can share our tax burden fairly and not overload some people as the case has been in the past. I believe with the enactment of this very short and progressive Bill, which has about ten clauses, it will help not just the KRA, but more importantly, our business people and taxpayers. That is why it speaks to tax procedures. I know there are those who want the world to believe that we are debating taxation probably when we are not very many in the House. Even, in the United States (US) Congress and the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament, some issues are not discussed by a full plenary. This is done by Members like Hon. Nyikal who are keen on legislating and are usually in the House. I was telling him that not very many Members are keen on complex issues to do with finance and economics."
}