Bill 2023: Amendments and Taxes
President William Ruto has given his approval to the controversial Finance Bill 2023, which was recently passed by the National Assembly. The signing took place on Monday morning at State House, Nairobi.
The Bill successfully went through Parliament following a third reading by Kuria Kimani, the chairman of the National Assembly Finance and National Planning Committee. As a result, Kenyans will now have to allocate more funds from their own pockets to support the government's initial budget.
During the late-night debates on Tuesday, several proposed amendments to the Bill were put forward, totaling 87 in number. Some of these proposals were approved, including a significant increase in the value-added tax on gasoline, which will now be set at 16% instead of 8%.
With the exception of Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba, a majority of 184 MPs, primarily from the Kenya Kwanza party, showed support for the bill. On the other hand, 88 MPs, mainly from the Azimio party, opposed the amendment.
After undergoing revisions, the contentious Housing levy, initially planned to be at 3% of gross pay, was passed with a revised rate of 1.5%. This levy has now been converted into a tax, contrary to its original intention as a savings account accessible to Kenyans after seven years.
Digital creators will now be subjected to a 5% tax, a reduction from the initially proposed 15%.
Furthermore, the betting and insurance withholding taxes will be levied at 12.5% and 16%, respectively.
