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{
    "id": 825262,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/825262/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 466,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kipkelion East, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Joseph Limo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1915,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Kirui Limo",
        "slug": "joseph-kirui-limo"
    },
    "content": "housing units, provision of universal healthcare and increasing the share of manufacturing for value addition and job creation. It is estimated that the total projected expenditure and the net lending for the 2018/2019 Estimates amounted to Kshs2.533 trillion to be financed through the ordinary revenue of Kshs1.743 trillion and A-in-A of Kshs179.95 billion. Expected external grants will, therefore, amount to Kshs47 billion bringing the total revenue to Kshs1.9 trillion. This leaves a fiscal deficit of Kshs562 billion to be financed through debt. The proportion of revenue estimates to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 2018/2019 Financial Year stands at 19.6 per cent which is approximately equivalent to that of 2017/2018 Financial Year. The full financing of the Budget depends on the implementation of the planned tax- enhancing proposals in the Finance Bill. These include the tax administration reforms through modernisation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) systems, reducing zero-rated products through the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill which we moved in this House somewhere in mid this year and the tax base expansion through targeting nil and non-fillers ensuring that all the national Government and county government suppliers are tax compliant. That is why the Government, through the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), has been campaigning a lot to ensure that all Kenyans are tax compliant, especially through promotion of self-assessment and filing of returns on time. At a later stage on this particular Bill, we will be touching on some measures which have been put in place to ensure that the tax return process is made friendlier and flexible. It is also the intention of the Government, in this particular Bill, to reduce diversion of transit cargo through electronic cargo systems. You will realise that currently, the KRA, even when you are moving around the country, you see some trucks which are stationed strategically along the highway. Those are the trucks which ensure that all the goods which are destined for the neighbouring countries actually leave the country so that no goods are dumped in the country and, therefore, do not affect our tax collection. There is also an effort to improve custom systems and border control. There is a planned repeal of the Income Tax Act. The Income Tax Act which is currently being used is old. There is an intention to repeal it and replace it with a more progressive new Tax Act. It is expected that this will greatly influence the collection of income taxes positively, which will enhance tax collection especially if tax waivers and exemptions are reduced as much as possible or even removed. In processing the Bill, the Committee invited comments from the stakeholders in line with Article 118 of the Constitution which requires that for everything we do in this country, we must involve the public. I wish to confirm that during the processing, a total of 43 institutions and individuals responded through memoranda and at the same time, several of them appeared before the Committee. The Committee held public hearings between Wednesday 1st to Friday 3rd August 2018 in Taifa Hall at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). This was particularly to ensure that the public participation meetings were accessible as much as possible to the public, including the members of the public who were walking. It was on 3rd from 11 a.m. I confirm that this Committee opened its doors for any member of the public who was invited or willing to come. It was a walk-in between 11.00 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. I am pleased to say that the Committee was impressed to note that the members of the public participated in a very interesting way. For the first time, there were some members of the public who came but they did not have a memorandum. They did not have anything in their hands. They came and contributed during this public participation. They were well informed. They used lay man language, but at the end of the day, they passed a message which touches on tax collection and 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."
}