National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah has disagreed with President William Ruto over his remarks to raise the tax rate from 14 percent to 22 percent.
In a tweet on Thursday, May 16, the Kikuyu MP urged the Head of State to reduce the tax expenditure on bread and milk, claiming the move would collect more revenue.
"I would respectfully disagree with the president on that particular point and I would have urged him to reduce the tax expenditure on bread and milk, I would rather we reduce it and in my personal view if we were to reduce even the standard VAT rate from 16% to about 15% and do away with all tax exemptions on VAT and zero-rated items, we would collect more money," Ichung'wah stated.
His remarks come after the president disclosed on Tuesday that he intends to raise the country's tax rate from the current 14 percent to possibly 22 percent before he leaves office.
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The Head of State remarked that when he assumed office, he told Kenyans to tighten their belts, adding that he was not going to preside over a bankrupt country.
“My drive is to push Kenya and possibly this year we will be at 16% from 14%. I want in my term, God willing, to leave it at between 20 and 22 %. It's going to be difficult. I have a lot of explaining to do, people will complain, but I know finally they will appreciate that the money we go to borrow from the World Bank is savings from other countries,” Ruto stated.
President Ruto further defended his remarks maintaining that the tax rate in Kenya was way below that of the country's peers.
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