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{
"id": 685189,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/685189/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Langat",
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"speaker": {
"id": 384,
"legal_name": "Benjamin Kipkirui Langat",
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"content": "amendments to a variety of laws relating to various taxes and duties as well as other financial sector statutes. Section 41 of the PFM Act, 2012 obligates the National Assembly to process and pass the Finance Bill within 90 days of the passage of the Appropriation Bill. The Finance Bill, 2016 was published on 8th June and read the first time on 16th June, 2016, and thereafter committed to the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade for consideration in line with Articles 114 and 118 of the Constitution and Standing Order 127. This Bill contains a total of 59 clauses, which propose amendments to four main tax laws. These are: The Income Tax Act, the Excise Duty Act, the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act and the Tax Procedures Act, as well as other miscellaneous amendments in a total of nine financial sector laws, namely, the Retirement Benefits Act, the Kenya Revenue Authority Act, the Capital Markets Act, the Banking Act, the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, the Kenya Deposit Insurance Act, the Public Finance Management Act, the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act and the Special Economic Zones Act. The proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act, the Excise Duty Act and the Value Added Tax Act will be deemed to have come into operation on 9th June 2016 and 1st July 2016, with a few provisions such as the ones relating to assessment of taxes, penalties or interests in some cases and VAT withholding agents, being backdated to 19th January, 2016. The rest of the amendments will come into effect on 1st January, 2017. The Committee has considered the Bill and tabled its Report based on submissions from stakeholders. I want to inform Members that we tabled the Report yesterday and it is available in the Table Office. In processing the Bill, the Committee invited comments from the public by placing advertisements in the Daily Nation and The Standard newspapers on Friday, 1st July, 2016, pursuant to Article 118 of the Constitution. Consequently, we received 13 submissions from various stakeholders. Those submissions are attached to our Report for Members to peruse. The Committee is scheduled to retreat with all the stakeholders and the National Treasury this weekend to discuss those proposals and agree on the amendments which shall be tabled at the Committee of the whole House. I will proceed to highlight a few proposals since Members already have the Bill and I have said it contains 59 clauses. If Members contribute to one clause each, this House will be rich in information. I will just mention a few areas of the Bill. The tourism sector, as you know, is one of the leading sectors of our economy and very key in terms of foreign exchange earnings. However, in the recent past, we have seen the sector experiencing low tourist arrivals arising from terror threats and travel advisories which have been issued by foreign countries against our country. In order to boost the tourism sector, the Bill proposes to exempt entry fees to our national parks and commissions earned by tour operators from VAT. It is believed that, although we still have other challenges, we will resolve the tax challenges through the Finance Bill. The other sector which is very key to our economy is agriculture, particularly livestock farming, which is also a very big source of income for many Kenyans in the rural areas. The farmers’ earnings from this sector have continued to decline because of high cost of animal feeds. This House passed the VAT Act, 2013 which provided that VAT shall be charged on animal feeds. However, this Bill seeks to now exempt raw materials used in the manufacture of animal feeds from VAT. When we exempt raw materials used in the manufacture of animal feeds, we expect the cost of animal feeds to subsequently come down. That will encourage the 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."
}