Wednesday, May 29, 2024 - The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) has told President William Ruto’s government to abandon its current strategy of collecting taxes, raising concerns that it primarily affects a small pool of taxpayers.
While making its submissions before the National Assembly's Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, the association proposed for the tax bracket to be widened to accommodate more Kenyans.
They pointed out that the taxman only collects taxes from 6.3 million Kenyans while many more are eligible, meaning the tax burden is not shouldered equally.
Further, the association raised concerns over the higher deductions on salaried workers, indicating that it caused a ripple effect on the government's revenue collection.
They argued that higher deductions reduced taxpayers' spending and in turn, decreased the amount the government can collect in the long run from indirect taxes.
ICPAK also called for fiscal consolidation measures to aid in increasing revenue collection by reducing government deficits and debt accumulation. This would be anchored by implementing stronger legal frameworks to prevent tax evasion and avoidance as well as increasing tax audits and modernising tax systems.
The accountants also called for avenues of corruption within the market to be sealed to encourage accountability for every coin spent.
In conclusion, the stakeholders called for the National Treasury to inform the public of the revenue impact of each proposed tax measure to assess its worthiness and institute corrective measures in the required areas.
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