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"id": 203595,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Sungu",
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"speaker": {
"id": 324,
"legal_name": "Gor Eric Sungu",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was going to say that, in fact, I do support the Minister's proposals with respect to taxation on cigarettes. I have sought to bring a Bill to this House to control tobacco use. That same Bill, which was eventually brought by the Government, made it imperative to employ taxation measures to try to reduce the demand for cigarettes. On that basis, I support what the Minister has said. In fact, I would be happier if he increases those taxes even two-fold. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this being a very important Bill, I have made notes on item by item. It is very difficult to tell what somebody else is going to say. This is such an important Bill that it is necessary to go through it clause by clause to be able to, at least, make some value addition to it, so that the Minister can have the benefit of a contribution from an hon. Member from the side of the world, and who may not have had the benefit of having proposals considered by the Minister when he was bringing these proposals to the House. Therefore, in relation to Income Tax, the amendment appearing on page 1847, under Section 19, seeks to delete sub-section 2(b) and insert in place thereof the following new sub- section:- \"Where an employee is provided with a motor vehicle by his employer, he shall be deemed to have received a benefit in that year of income equal to the higher of- (a) such value as the Commissioner may from time to time determine, or (b) the prescribed rate of benefit\". I believe that nobody has raised this issue. It is very important, because I have had the benefit of having a company car. What about salesmen, who are given company cars? What about newspaper distributors, or reporters, who are given company cars? How is the Commissioner going to determine the rate of taxation? This kind of thing cannot be considered a benefit. It is a tool of work. It is something which one uses to reach his place of work and carry out his duties. So, it cannot be a benefit. If anything, what the Commissioner should be empowered to do is to determine that proportion of the time used to take the person, who is using this car, from his place of work to his place of residence, and not otherwise. So, the percentages proposed here are arbitrary and we must, in our own way, try to protect 3992 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES September 18, 2007 the ordinary Kenyan. That measure is also vague, and we must look at it at the Committee Stage. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is an amendment which states as follows:- \"THAT, Section 15 of the Income Tax Act be amended in Subsection (2) by adding the following at the end of paragraph (a)- \"and the Commissioner may prescribe such guidelines as may be appropriate for the purposes of determining the bad debts under this sub-paragraph\". I am on record as saying that this House should never delegate its power to make laws to some other body. Subsidiary legislation is very dangerous. This provision seeks to give the Commissioner power to prescribe, under no known parameters or given guidelines, guidelines on the matters talked about therein. This is a kind of thing we would want to challenge when we are talking about the Finance Bill, because, more often than not, you will find that the Minister tries to amend every law under the sun using the Finance Bill. The other day we had occasion to look at various laws under the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill. So, I would urge the Minister to avoid using the Finance Bill to try to amend every law, because those laws are specific. They are principal Acts. Those Acts can be amended, if the Minister so wants. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I know that this has been mentioned, but let me say, again, that Section 28, which talks about realisation of securities, at page 1853---"
}