President Uhuru Kenyatta with Deputy President William Ruto.
BY THOMAS KARIUKI.
@thomaskariuki.
Until the tax regime in Kenya is revised, UHURUTO may be the first duo to rule government for only one term.
Kenyans cough more in taxes than some other world residents. The tax system in the country can be likened to the cold war of 60s and 70s-a battle with no blood but had profound effect on citizens’ livelihoods.
Permit me to probe why Kenyans have maintained their ‘cool’ on the matter? Is it because of fear of punishment or the ideology peddled that you pay first and then complain later which in actual sense results to a non-refund or justification of why the bracket was extended.
Call it what you may, the common man only understands the language of how much do I pay for my basic necessities such as cost of food and every day essential goods.
Now, is the reason why Kenyans are heavily taxed because of foreign entities, to endear the country as a strategic government that repays its debts or why are foreign investors trouping to Kenya now christened as a strategic investment destination in Africa?
Many may argue that it is because of improved government policies lest you forget an investor is someone looking to make profit at any opportunity that presents. So my question is how much do Kenyans have to pay in terms of interest charged for the goods and services the country is receiving from the foreign investors or so called profit makers?
The money to repay these loans is accumulated by taxing Kenyans more which then translates to the ever constant tax regime.
It is said that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune.’ The naked truth I dare say is that Kenyans come secondary after foreigners. Firstly, it is to please the foreign entities ‘investors’ and secondly wrecking Kenyans to repay the debts incurred.
An equitable tax system that includes everyone, and that is acceptable across board, from the smallest vendor to the biggest multinational, is the first step to realizing the freedoms enshrined in the constitution.
However it appears like the government is implementing the freedoms but eating up its citizens with taxes.
Allow me to remind UHURUTO what foreign entities do and think about Kenya. It is a prevailing notion among non-nationals that developing countries are too poor to build capital and that their best bet for building infrastructure is to attract foreign direct development.
I am not against development at all, what I am up against is how the government plans to reclaim these monies given as loans, the easiest being taxing Kenyans more-to be sincere to the narrative I am selling, the government has started widening its tax brackets to levying ladies cosmetics.
As if that isn’t enough, Kenya is suffering from an ‘offshore’ plague, a situation where some of the wealthiest citizens as well as a growing number of foreign multinationals transfer the money they earn from Kenya to other low-tax jurisdictions. This thus means that they pay no tax to the Kenyan authorities.
The government is now pushed to tax more on its citizens most of whom cannot access offshore money coffers.
When the Panama papers leaked, high ranking leaders in Africa among them Kenya’s Deputy Chief Justice Kaplana Rawal name popped up. Can the government probe why such high personalities have offshore accounts or I dare say the tax regimes in their countries are too high and hence they would like to get value for their money which solution is an offshore account.
The shocking reality is that despite the government expanding its tax bracket, no Kenyan is paid by their employer a single coin more to cover the state’s increment.
It is why, even if the government directs that a domestic worker in Nairobi and other major cities should be paid almost Sh11 thousand per month with compulsory weekly off days and overtime compensation, one wonders where do I get the extra money to pay the house help more when my source of money remains constant.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD, Foreign direct investment (FDI) into sub-Saharan Africa reached $42 billion in 2014, a 5 percent increase.
Data from the International Monetary Fund, IMF also indicate that almost half of all developing countries have tax-to-GDP ratios less than 15 percent compared with an average of 34 percent in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Many African countries fall well below 15 percent.
With the GOK taxing its citizens this severely, it is of paramount importance to state that Kenyan economy is spurred by how much people spend and the prices of products they use every day.
Driving these costs up has made a well-intentioned, development conscious, most loved President look so inhuman that citizens are equally confused by both the development they really need like yesterday and the costs they have to pay everyday as interest for this loans.
It also answers the question why President Kenyatta is most loved by Kenyans but many feel the country is headed in the wrong direction.
