{"id":685214,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/685214/?format=json","text_counter":64,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Gaichuhie","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":17,"legal_name":"Nelson Ributhi Gaichuhie","slug":"nelson-gaichuhie"},"content":"increase that to anybody who will be earning Kshs15,360. He or she will be exempted from Pay as You Earn (PAYE). Last year, we had a contentious issue of motor vehicles, as my Chair has said, and we are pleased that this time round, the Treasury has deemed it fit to revert to our position as a Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade. We had brought an amendment which was rejected because we did not deem it fit for people to pay between Kshs150,000 and Kshs200,000 per vehicle. We thought it would have been better if it was sale per value and I think Treasury has seen it fit this time. On the banking sector, we want to urge Members that this time round, we do not need to reject the base rate of between Kshs1 billion to Kshs5 billion. It has been prolonged to 2019 because we have seen banks going under. People raise billions to start a bank, then they come with more than Kshs8 billion and the directors fleece the Kshs7 billion. So, we are in agreement with Treasury although we are still encouraging people to come and talk. We have seen other players who are saying Kshs5 billion is high, but I think as we agree with Treasury and CBK, we will have a base where we can increase the rate. Concerning penalties, we have seen that Kshs5 million is quite a little amount when you compare it with banks which have over Kshs10 billion. So, we think that Kshs20 million should be the maximum. It is not that every penalty will be Kshs20 million, but it is a good measure because we need to have stable banks. Hon. Deputy Speaker, we are also happy to say that the garments and leather industry - which we are trying to promote through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives – is exempted. I would like to encourage our livestock farmers because we know that leather comes from animals. It is good to let people from North Eastern know that we have exempted Value Added Tax (VAT) on animal feeds. We hope that will also increase animal production which will also increase leather production. There is also a proposal to exempt all materials that are used to build recreation parks, which I think is a good idea. We have seen counties coming up with recreation parks. When we exempt machineries and any goods that are used to build recreation parks, is a way forward because we need people to relax in their counties. Further, the exemption of park fees from VAT will encourage the tourism sector. Our tourism sector has really been affected and I think the introduction of exemption of park fees from VAT is going to be advantageous and we expect to have more tourists coming in. Amnesty for people who bring their foreign investment back home is also very encouraging. This is because when we have people investing outside and not bringing back their investments, they actually develop foreign countries at the expense of our country. This is also a very good measure. We are also encouraging taxable goods for specialised equipment to be exempted from VAT, if they are going to be used for specialised hospitals. Cancer has greatly increased and if we exempt any machinery from VAT that is coming to specialised cancer hospitals or specialised hospitals, that will be good. That will help, other than having people go all the way to India or any other country where there are cheap rates because of VAT. However, when we have specialised equipment imported tax free, it will encourage many other people to start specialised hospitals and this will reduce the number of people who go out for treatment. We have also seen exemption of tax for machinery, specialised motor vehicles and specialised machines that are going to be used locally by our armed forces. The rate of insecurity in this country is very high and we need to buy specialised equipment. When we exempt 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."}