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{
    "id": 377177,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/377177/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 401,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you read some of the provisions or clauses in this Bill, we have to make amendments. If you take, for example, clauses 27 and 28, they speak to a possibility where if there is contention; if I contest the VAT payable by my business, that if I own a house, it can easily be auctioned just because I have contested the VAT payable. This is punitive to land owners; it is discouraging investment. We need to look at some of these provisions critically and make amendments where necessary. I have no doubt in my mind that this Bill should be a better improvement to what we have today. You cannot have over 700 items either exempted or zero-rated. It is untenable. We have about 473 items which are found in the schedule to the current VAT Act that are either exempt or zero-rated. Besides that, over the years, this House has periodically and consistently, through Finance Acts, been adding more items to be zero-rated and exempt but that should not give this Government a blanket cheque to tax everybody, anybody and everything. Remember this Government is in the process of even taxing financial services. Very soon, they are going to tax everything including: If you maintain an account and you are earning only Kshs2,000 in that account, you are going to pay more now because this Government overpromised things, some of which are not even priorities. They want the Kenyan public to finance those non- priority areas by heavily taxing them. Instead, if they want to finance those non-priority areas, they should be innovative. They should think of better ways of raising revenue."
}