Big win for filmmakers as State announces tax cut on cameras

NAIROBI: Filmmakers are set to reap big after Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich announced zero-rating on film equipment imports.

The move will see the cost of cameras, lenses, editing suites and other filmmaking facilities cheaper and more attractive.

This has come hot on the heels of a new film bill that is set to usher in a new film policy to enhance the business in Kenya.

Also set to benefit will be media owners and independent video producers who are taking advantage of digital migration that has since offered huge demand for content.

This is in addition to tax exemptions on cameras that the industry has been enjoying since three years ago when the then Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta offered such incentives in the budget.

Mr Rotich's announcement now covers all equipment meant for film production, including lights, boom microphones, dollies and film studio accessories.

"That is excellent news we have been screening. If all equipment is zero-rated, then the benefits will now be real," said Bob Nyanja, Chief Executive Officer at Cinematic Solutions - a filmmaking enterprise behind TV hits such as Red Corner and Churchill Live.

But he cautions that the devil is in the details.

COMPLICATED PROCESS

According to Mr Nyanja, at times the implementation is so complicated and asks the Cabinet secretary to make the zero-rating process easy and simple.

The celebrated filmmaker reckons that the earlier declaration of a tax cut on camera imports did not work well because customs officers would dispute the kind of camera to zero–rate at the point of entry.

"The Government must know we work on tight deadlines and if there are details in the clearance, it translates to huge losses on our side," he reiterated.

Leaky Odera of Pambazuka Africa and the brain behind Mr and Miss University Kenya beauty pageant has welcomed the move, terming it a victory.

"We very much depend on TV, especially in the beauty pageant and at times hiring equipment has been out of reach, making it very hard to have the very best of our potential," he says, adding that the move will also create jobs for many youth who are graduating from college.

In April, Deputy President William Ruto announced that the Government had set aside Sh400 million for the construction of a national film academy. He further said that the arts will be the next frontier for job creation to propel economic growth.