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{
    "id": 1510799,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1510799/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 435,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I would like to refer the House to Article 210 of the Constitution, which states that there are only two ways of not collecting tax – either through a waiver or a variation. Article 210 also states that whenever there is a reason to waive or vary any tax due, there must be a public record, and reasons for that waiver or variation must be given and recorded. That also applies to Section 77 of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act. However, there is a more fundamental constitutional issue in play. The power to impose taxes is reserved for this House. In our constitutional organisation, there is no other entity that can impose taxes. Consequently, the power to forgive taxes rests with this House, not with the Commissioner-General of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) or the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning. Therefore, I propose that any decision to waive or vary taxes must be made by this House. In other words, where those four sets of circumstances arise, the Commissioner-General should prepare a list, share it with the Cabinet Secretary, who should then submit it to this House for approval, for any waiver or variation of tax. That is according to our Constitution. Any proposal to do it otherwise is illegal and would be challenged in a court of law. That is the gist of my proposed amendments. There was a similar clause in last year’s Finance Bill, which caused us a lot of problems. It has now been improved a bit, but if you read the way it has been configured, the decision is now being made exclusively by the Commissioner-General of the KRA and the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning, who then report to Parliament. Whether we annul the Kenya Gazette notice or not, whatever has been done will still apply. That is not what our Constitution requires."
}