Opinion: Treasury should rethink tax measures

Paying taxes is a legal and moral requirement on every citizen. Taxes are used to build our roads, put drugs in hospitals and give us all the comforts of modern infrastructure.

Indeed, even biblical narratives have Jesus Christ asking his followers to give “Ceaser what belongs to Ceaser”.

But what Kenyans witnessed on Thursday when Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich divulged the secrets contained in this year’s budget, was a shocking display of ruthless taxation directed at the poor who struggle to put food on the table. This, in our view, is unacceptable in law and morality.

Rotich proposed stringent tax measures on basic commodities such as Kerosene, fees charged for mobile money transfers and a host of other essential products that ideally hold the lifeline for the common mwananchi.

The argument that government needs the money to finance projects under the “Big Four” agenda to secure President Uhuru Kenyattta’s legacy holds little water in the face of the pain the taxpayer is set to go through.

What could have been prudent for the Treasury to do was introduce these taxes in a gradual manner and give people room to cope with them over a longer period.

Introducing them all at once with no breathing space for the taxpayer to adjust while fighting the spectre of rising cost of living, was a clear mistake. Treasury should introduce a well thought-out approach of introducing taxes without bringing needless pain to taxpayers.