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{
    "id": 1590432,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1590432/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 362,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kesses, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Rutto",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you so much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I believe the Leader of the Majority Party can confirm that the Committee is very professional and that is why the report goes beyond any reproach. I stand to second the Report Tabled by the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning Committee, Hon. CPA Kuria Kimani, and to express our joy as a Committee. As we stand before the House, this particular Finance Bill, 2025 as it is said, is one of the best Finance Bills because it did not focus on the vertical adjustment as traditionally done, but rather, stressed on the horizontal adjustment – broadening the base of tax collection and ensuring that it makes it easy for Kenyans to participate in tax payment, unlike the complexities that were there before. Most of the Tax Acts that are in existence had a lot of duplications and complexities in terms of redundancy of some laws. If you remember, technology has changed the business world. Technology could also bring a lot of issues by complicating and duplicating what could otherwise be obtained, technically, through paperwork. For instance, the filing of tax returns as it has been done before. This particular Finance Bill serves to adjust such issues. Again, we need to remember that this particular House recently passed the National Tax Policy which has never been there before and if you look at the flow of this particular Finance Bill, it is trying to respond to the requirements of the Tax Policy by encouraging the business world in a manner that is so predictable. This will help business people to plan their businesses knowing that the tax regimes that are in place, can accommodate a certain monetary threshold, and they can plan their profits and strategies well. Looking at these particular proposals in the Finance Bill, I want to laud the Cabinet Secretary for The National Treasury and Economic Planning because most of the issues as I have said, tries to mitigate the challenges that for quite some time, have been ignored. The issue of tax expenditure as we have said. The Committee’s 2023 Report indicated that we have lost the tune of Ksh510 to Ksh560 billion. When we talk of tax expenditure, these are tax exemptions, remissions and reimbursements that we give that are claimed by the business owners, manufacturers and those who trade in the zero-rated inputs. Most of them have no clear line of transferring the final benefit to the consumer because most of this happens in the context of professional engagement; but if you look at some products and their pricing in the market, you will see the benefit. I know that most of us have recently visited our health facilities. When we access healthcare, especially those of us who are covered by insurance, the cost you see when you sign is so huge that at times you are unable to identify those benefits provided by this honourable House through the tax laws that we pass here. How do they affect the consumer? Those are the issues that we want to minimise so that, in future, we stop increasing taxes and instead, collect enough from available tools and finance our Budget accordingly."
}