Professionals should not pay single Business Permit to County governments

A ruling by the High Court stopping the charging of single business permit fees on medical clinics could trigger a clash between professionals and the county governments.

Justice RVP Wendoh ruled that a county government should not impose a single business permit fee on a medical clinic because this amounts to double taxation.

Justice Wendoh made the decision following a petition filed in 2017 by Peter Ndungu and 39 other medical practitioners against Nyandarua County Assembly and the County Executive.

The 40 petitioners included doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, laboratory technicians and clinic officers operating in Nyandarua.

The medics argued that they are licensed by their professional bodies that charge Sh10,000 annually to regulate their operations and inspect their premises.

This ruling in effect means all other professionals regulated by statutory bodies that charge annual fees are not supposed to pay single business permit levies to counties.

The petitioners contend that the money charged by professional bodies is collected on behalf of the national government, and therefore paying for single business permit to the county government is unsconstitutional and double taxation.

The medics also argued the county government has no capacity to regulate them and that although the Constitution authorises the county government to impose taxes, they should not prejudice national economic policies.

Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB) CEO Daniel Yumbya welcomed the ruling, saying for a long time medics have been double taxed. He said medics run about 46,000 institutions in the country.

KMPDU Secretary General Ouma Oluga said although a number of courts have barred county governments from taxing medical professionals, his colleagues were still being harassed by enforcement officers.