The government now says it has not introduced any new taxes in the Finance Bill 2025, saying the move is meant to reduce the high cost of living in the country.
Treasury CS John Mbadi instead says the government is introducing measures that will give more relief to the taxpayer as it targets to reduce the current budget proposals by Ksh.130 billion from the original Ksh.4.3 trillion budget.
The bill was introduced on Wednesday in the National Assembly, after getting a nod from the Cabinet yesterday.
And while the details of the bill remain scanty, the government says it has listened to the common mwananchi and has not introduced any further taxes.
Speaking to Citizen TV, Treasury CS John Mbadi said, “We have not introduced any tax measures which will add the burden on the taxpayer.”
The CS added that in fact, the government had reduced the existing burden, including exempting tea and coffee packaging from tax, reducing the crypto tax rate from 3 per cent to 1.5 per cent, and exempting retirees’ gratuity payments from tax.
The Ministry of Treasury added that it is making changes to the Income Tax Act, VAT Act, Excise Duty Act, and the Tax Procedures Act.
Further, the government is planning to cut the current proposals of Ksh.4.3 trillion budget by Ksh.133 billion and bring it down to about Ksh.4.2 trillion.
Mbadi added that the cuts would only affect the national government’s operational costs, travel, and other unnecessary spending.
These changes, the CS said, are informed by the need to listen to the people, to prevent the scenes witnessed last year when the Gen Zs led the rejection of the Finance Bill 2024.
This, as the National Assembly Finance Committee, is now expected to take the hot seat of leading public participation on the bill.
“The estimates now stand committed to the relevant departmental committees and the Budget and Appropriations Committee for in-depth review and stakeholder engagement,” Moses Wetangula, Speaker National Assembly, stated.
The Speaker cautioned the MPs who are expected to be on a month-long recess beginning Thursday, May 1, from rejecting the bill without reading it.
“If you oppose the bill, do so here—not at funerals or before schoolchildren who cannot respond. You do not look good when you dramatize fiscal debates in public while staying silent in this House,” Wetangula added.
“Let us tell the public what is in the Finance Bill. If there are no more taxations, there are no more taxations. Let us not import things into the Finance Bill,” Junet Mohammed, Minority Leader, National Assembly, intimated.
The bill is yet to be made public, with the opposition already suspicious of the hidden tax burdens in it.
