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State makes concessions on new taxes but...

An elderly woman is assisted by protesters after collapsing due to tear gas during a demonstration against the Finance Bill 2024 in downtown Nairobi, on June 18, 2024. [AFP]

President William Ruto on Tuesday succumbed to relentless and unprecedented public pressure and acceded to recommendations by the National Assembly Finance and National Planning Committee to drop some of the punitive tax proposals in the Finance Bill 2024.

However, Kenyans will still have to contend with some of the tax measures that were made in the original Bill that was tabled in Parliament in early May and had been criticised as likely to leave ordinary wananchi worse off amid a biting high cost of living crisis.

Among the proposed taxes that have been dropped following the public push include the 2.5 per cent annual motor vehicle tax, the 16 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT)on bread, Eco Levy on locally manufactured products and excise on locally assembled motorcycles. It has also dropped the proposal to allow the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to have unlimited access to personal data for tax assessment purposes.