Heavier Tax Burden For Kenyans
If the Finance Bill that is put before the National Assembly is passed, the National Treasury hopes to remove 3% of Kenyans’ basic salaries for the National Housing Development Fund, matched by another 3% from the employer.
Additionally, as part of its efforts to broaden the tax base, Treasury is proposing that your PAYE be graduated from the current 30% to 35% for people earning more than Ksh. 500,000.
Employees who qualify for affordable housing can use their contributions to buy a house under the affordable housing scheme.
The contributions of people who are not qualified for affordable housing will be moved to a retirement benefit or pension plan.
Furthermore, according to the proposed Finance Bill, bookmakers must send excise taxes to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) within 24 hours.
Heavier Tax Burden For Kenyans
In contrast to imported mobile phones, which will now be subject to a 10% excise charge, wigs, human hair, fake beards, eyebrows, and eyelashes will now be subject to a 5% excise duty.
The law aims to give the taxman more power by requiring everyone involved in disputes with KRA at the Tax Appeals Tribunal to deposit 20% of the amount in dispute or any security equivalent to that amount with KRA while the matter is being addressed.
Additionally, a 15% withholding tax will be applied to all content that is monetized by digital content creators.
The trade of any digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, token codes, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), will be governed by the new digital asset exchange regulations.
The Finance Bill proposes amending Section 5 of the Income Tax Act to guarantee that employees’ per diem, sometimes known as cash allowances, are taxed properly.
The new idea will provide the government legal authority to collaborate with companies to develop a functional framework to ensure that employees pay their fair amount.