The United States government has joined millions of Kenyans in opposing the Finance Bill 2024, which seeks to introduce more taxes on suffering Kenyans.
The bill which has been proposed by the treasury seeks to introduce taxes on bread, Boda Boda, Mpesa transactions, Bank transactions, and on motor vehicles.
Speaking about the bill on Wednesday, US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman stressed the importance of taxation consistency in fostering a stable economic environment in Kenya.
“Taxes are an issue in every country and what we hear in American companies is that Kenya just needs to be the lowest taxed but consistent; keeping the tax the same for three, four, or five years because businesses make investments with a return horizon,” she said.
“You don’t expect that you are going to make your money back in a year but five years, six years, seven years; so that tax consistency is just equally important.”
Addressing methods of increasing taxes, Whitman advocated for expanding the tax base through job creation rather than raising tax rates.
“There’s two ways; to increase taxes and also expand the tax bases which is the number of people (being taxed) and that’s why jobs, jobs are so important. Good paying jobs, with a steady paycheck and some benefits
“When more people have a steady income they can pay taxes so you expand the number of people and not just go for the same people.”
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