HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 482143,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/482143/?format=api",
"text_counter": 281,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Musimba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 1804,
"legal_name": "Patrick Mweu Musimba",
"slug": "patrick-mweu-musimba"
},
"content": "contribution towards our incomes was mostly through consumption tax. Therefore, this should be a challenge to the Committee to look whether we are going to move towards income-related, or do we move completely towards our policies encouraging consumption. But be that as it may, we should not have issues of corruption. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I will give a case in point in the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector. In the ICT sector, the revenue authority collects revenue accruing to sales of scratch cards upfront. You have already quantified down the value chain on how much incomes you are going to earn through the tax revenue measures. This should be greatly encouraged so that the issue of compliance is greatly reduced. That is because it also comes at a cost, which most business cannot afford - like audit services. For a basic company, it would run into, maybe, Kshs100,000, which would be barely what that particular entrepreneur is trying to earn. About the entrepreneur, we should look through this Finance Bill and encourage entrepreneurial growth. Currently, we are looking at 12 million unemployed youths in Kenya and another 8 million people who, although retired from their current employment, are unable to continue contributing to this nation. They have amassed significant capital but they do not have linkages towards deploying the small income. In this particular accord, I want to echo the words of the President when he gave his State of the Union Address in this House and purposed Kshs200 billion towards the youth. We need to model this around. I think this is the point which the Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade should be looking at. We need to convert that Kshs200 billion into the constituencies. This will translate to Kshs790 million per constituency in Kenya for purchases through functions which are already vested under the national Government namely; infrastructure, security and education. Those particular things exist within every single constituency in Kenya. If you look at a retention of, say, 10 per cent of those values and the value per constituency is Kshs790 million, this would translate to Kshs79 million. Unlike the CDF which goes to infrastructural projects, that money would go to peoples’ pockets as profits for entrepreneurial growth. This will drive this nation to a whole new level. On the part of incentive and exempting our employers and making tax deductible towards granting our people vacations, the major tourist destination in Kenya is classrooms. Most people are taking time to add to their knowledge. People are going to our universities in the evening. All those monies are from their pay cheques and yet, there is no incentive whatsoever to actually cushion them to offer tax breaks toward what they are investing in. This does not translate necessarily to any promotion that actually encourages greater productivity which this nation so desires and looks for. As we look at vacation, we could convert all our hotel facilities which will be an interest to employers in Kenya. We could say that as you head to your vacation, it is a place you will get motivational speaking and being revamped through getting new skill sets and knowing what is going around the world. This would provide a very good base. When you look at the cost base of this nation today, for most business, this has to do with transfer pricing which we are trying to curb. There is, however, no major incentive to businesses to curb that practice purely because a business cannot project its costs. They are not finite! Even for individual consumers, when you look at our energy costs, you cannot predict what your next electricity bill will be, although your salary is 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."
}