Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1511358,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1511358/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 434,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Buuri, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mugambi Rindikiri",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "come from a very challenging moment where the Finance Bill was a major topic in this country. The time taken by this Committee demonstrates that this Parliament and Government are ready to listen to Kenyans. This is a very important thing because Kenyans have been saying that we do not listen to them. I applaud the public because we all watched some of the presentations by various stakeholders. Through this public participation, I discovered that Kenyans are not opposed to payment of taxes. They want an explanation of what happens to the revenue that is raised through taxation. This Report gives some answers to what many Kenyans want to hear. If we have a tax regime that encourages investment, protects the domestic products and enhances domestic services, Kenyans will participate in revenue generation through taxation. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I note with appreciation that Kenyans understand that our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing, but our tax base is almost stagnating. The Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill is trying to address that we need to strike a balance between our domestic resource mobilisation and reduce over-reliance on debts. This is very important because Kenyans understand the effect of having so many debts. If we increase the tax base which I am sure this Bill addresses by encouraging the growth of domestic production, it will create more revenue and cut over-reliance on the borrowing. The tax regime must not hurt Kenyans. We should not encourage anything that hurts Kenyans. A tax regime must enhance business environment to attract investors and create opportunities for jobs. This Bill tries to raise the digital economy by reducing the amount of tax which is a pass. You will always see a thriving informal sector: 83.3 per cent of 19.15 million Kenyans work in the informal sector. This is the base for economic growth. We need to encourage this sector to grow. If we continue imposing more taxes on them, it will not grow. We all know that the informal sector will increase from small to medium-sized and eventually grow to become a serious economic base of this country."
}