National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi has called on the President of Kenya, Ruto, to spare Kenyans from heavy taxation. He specifically mentioned taxes on books and e-books, taxes on music on Spotify, and taxes on video streaming on Netflix as areas where the government should remove taxes. He believes that these taxes disproportionately affect the most active and vulnerable segments of the population, such as performing artists and the youth in colleges and universities. The idea is that these taxes make it harder for these groups to access information and entertainment, and that removing them would help to promote education and creativity.
National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi also added that artistes should not have to pay extra taxes on their music when the government does nothing to develop their talents. He believes that young people who are struggling to finish their education and those looking for jobs should also not have to pay more to listen to music and watch movies. He argued that these groups need a reprieve and that the government should not be placing additional financial burdens on them.
Similarly, Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary-General Francis Atwoli also expressed concern over the government's move to gather intelligence on people's usage of mobile money. He said that it is an ill-advised move and that it would make many Kenyans shy away from using mobile money platforms. He believes that this would have a negative impact on the Kenyan economy.
Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli has advised the government of President William Ruto not to hurt Kenyans in their efforts to collect enough taxes to implement the promises in the Kenya Kwanza manifesto and make Kenya economically independent of external debt. He believes that the government's move, as outlined in the 2023 Budget Policy Statement, to have access to and investigate mobile money transactions, such as M-Pesa, is ill-advised and counter productive.
He argued that the majority of mobile banking users are hustlers and the poor who overwhelmingly voted for this government and if the government moves forward with this plan it would ultimately make Kenyans avoid using mobile money platforms, as a result destroying a great innovation that has helped ease the movement of money, especially from the urban to rural areas. He also said that the government should not target the poor in their efforts to collect taxes and it is important for the government to find other ways to raise revenue without hurting the most vulnerable segments of the population.
Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli believes that if the government moves forward with its plan to investigate mobile money transactions, Kenyans will start avoiding the use of mobile money platforms and may start using other platforms like courier and parcel services to send money. He said that rather than monitoring and investigating M-Pesa transactions, the government should ensure that more than 5,000 outsourcing companies regularize the employment terms and conditions of work for their employees by ensuring they pay all the statutory deductions including PAYE, NSSF, and NHIF.
He also suggested that if the government wants to double the country's revenue, it should formalize many jobs in the informal sector and by clamping down on these companies that out source labor, they will collect the much-needed taxes to operationalize some of the promises in the Kenya Kwanza manifesto. He also urged the National Treasury, and by extension KRA to think innovatively and creatively and adopt more sophisticated measures to raise taxes for the government. He believe that the world of work is changing and the government should not adopt simplistic measures such as snooping on mobile money transactions to raise taxes for the government.
Nyakundis.blogspot.com
sat january21,2023
