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{
    "id": 808326,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/808326/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 255,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Rongai, KANU",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Raymond Moi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2689,
        "legal_name": "Kipruto Moi",
        "slug": "kipruto-moi"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this chance to contribute to this Bill. A lot of people have spoken and we are all in agreement that we collect a lot of taxes but we do not utilise the money properly. There is so much corruption in this country. There is no single day you wake up without reading about corruption. There is corruption everywhere. The tax laws being amended are the Income Tax Act, the Stamp Duty Act and the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act. The amendment to the Income Tax Act seeks to reintroduce a 20 per cent tax or a withholding tax on winnings from betting and gaming. That is good because for so long, we have allowed those people to make a lot of money from betting. Most of the taxation had been borne by the gaming companies and not the punters themselves - the people who play those games. We have reached a point where the Government is saying that the punters must also pay. They have been told to pay their share, which is 20 per cent. This is fair. It is also fair in that it will mobilise revenue for the Government. But as most Hon. Members have said, we are good at collecting taxes but once it is collected, there are a few people who misuse those funds. Those funds belong to a few people. Where does the buck stop in this country? When will someone in this country stand up to say that this should not happen? It is about time. We talk about laws and we know that laws cannot help anything in this country. We create a lot of laws. There are enough laws in this country to stop corruption. Taxing the punters is a good thing. The Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill also seeks to exempt developers and operators in the special economic zones. It seeks to exempt them from paying capital gains tax and also compensating tax. That is good because it supports the Big Four Agenda. It supports manufacturing. I support that amendment. With regard to the amendment to the Stamp Duty Act on the issue of exempting first-time homeowners, it is good because it also creates housing for those who cannot afford it. It makes it available to them. But it is minimal. We do not know what the rates are but we know that they are currently between 2 and 4 per cent, depending on where you are. I support this because it will enable those who do not have homes to purchase them. Let me go to the amendment to the VAT Act. I support all the amendments except the amendment to the VAT Act. We will need to amend this when it gets to the Committee of the whole House. I will be there. Shifting items from being VAT rated to the exemption schedule The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}