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{
    "id": 1511369,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1511369/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 445,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ainamoi, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Benjamin Lang’at",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute on this Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill of 2024. As you may have noted, this is an Omnibus Bill seeking to amend the Income Tax Act, the VAT Act of 2013, the Excise Duty Act, and the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act. As mentioned by our chairman, and as required by the Constitution of Kenya, specifically Article 118, we undertook the public participation exercise. I must say that this was the most extensive public participation exercise ever conducted for any Bill in this Republic. We carried out what we call the county public participation exercise, where we sampled six counties. I personally led a team in the Western region covering Bungoma, Siaya, and Kericho The Chairman led another team in Isiolo, Mombasa, and the Coastal region. What we heard from the public is this: First, they have no problem with paying taxes. The issue is what we do with the taxes once they are collected. Many Kenyans said they have no problem with paying taxes, but once collected, those taxes must be used in a manner that is beneficial to the public. Secondly, members of the public were concerned whether the public participation exercise we were undertaking was just an exercise in futility. Some of them said, \"We know you guys, you have already made your decision.\" I want to confirm to them that the public participation exercise was not an exercise in futility. In fact, as the Chairman has mentioned, and I want to repeat, we will propose several amendments at the Committee of the whole House to capture what the public told us. This is a listening committee. We have very radical proposals. We also held an organized townhouse public participation exercise in Nairobi, where we listened to anyone who had something to say, any recommendations to make, or any comments. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers, the Institute of Certified Public"
}