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"id": 464079,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Sakaja",
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"legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
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"content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Looking at the kind of Bills that have been coming to this House, especially from the Government, Kenyans can see the value of electing a President who understands the economy. If you look at the Capital Markets (Amendment) Bill, the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, the Tax Appeals Tribunal Bill and the Finance Bill, 2013; you see that it is clear that the Government is keen on streamlining the economy and matters of finance. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to thank the Chairman and the Vice- Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade because it is through their leadership that we have been seeing all the Bills dealing with the economy coming to the House. I want to thank them for the great leadership that they have shown. As a country, we are looking forward to taking our economy to the next level. Anything that can make this country more competitive, in terms of retaining its regional business and economic hub status, must be encouraged. For the benefit of business people, investors and ordinary taxpayers, we need to have a tax regime and framework that is predictable and fair, and which guarantees a safe environment for investment. The proposed Tax Appeals Tribunal will shield all taxpayers, big or small; from the whims of individuals, as it has been the case before. The best thing about this Bill is that we had, under the various tax laws, provision for some form of appeals tribunals but those tribunals have not been entrenched in any statute. Having this Tribunal entrenched in a statute gives it greater power, greater thrust and greater predictability. Those who will be serving in the Tribunal will be able to perform their mandate with confidence and fairness. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would also like to say that this is a major step towards institutionalisation of matters of appeal. Most Kenyans do not even know that they can appeal such decisions. I would like to concur with some hon. Members who said that the issue of depositing Kshs20,000 with the Tribunal, as one files an appeal, should be looked into. Instead of giving an optimum figure, we could propose that the fee to be deposited should be a proportion of the settlement being sought, in order to ensure that frivolous claims do not come to the Tax Appeals Tribunal. I would also like to point out that the time limit being given by law, within which to deal with such cases, is very good. One can know that once such an issue comes up, within the next number of days, it can be expedited and sorted out. This is the first such kind of set up within the region. It will, indeed, go a long way in ensuring that Kenya continues to lead in the East and Central Africa with respect to economic matters. I would like to refer to Clause 23, where it says that the Tribunal will have powers to engage an independent expert. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I would like to suggest that we look at that, but in the spirit of reducing the cost of all these tribunals and commissions we have in the country, probably, we should just ensure that the Tribunal consists of people with that expertise so that it does not have to start engaging people to pay them as experts in tax matters. Let the people who sit in this Tribunal be people who are well versed in matters of tax, economics and business. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}