‘No tax relief yet,’ David Ndii hints at tougher times ahead for Kenyans

President William Ruto’s Senior Economic Advisor David Ndii has dispelled the notion that the government could be seeking to lower taxes for Kenyans anytime soon.

Ndii, who was speaking during the NCBA Economic Forum in Nairobi on Wednesday, noted that as long as Kenya is still in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, cutting taxes will remain a pipe dream.

"I want to make reference to something I said before, when you are in an IMF programme, you are in receivership. There is no relief, you are only going to get relief when you get out of receivership," said the Chairperson of Ruto's Council of Economic Advisors.

"When companies are in receivership they cut costs; they lay off people and the turnaround is costly. That is why some countries are where they are; they are in cycles of macroeconomic crisis. What you want to do is the structural things that we are doing, we can’t keep going back to the question of how much relief we are providing."

Ndii, however, pointed out that the government is working on implementing key reforms aimed at spreading the tax burden, which he says currently falls disproportionately on salaried Kenyans.

His comments come amid the reintroduction of aspects of the Finance Bill, 2024 as the government seeks to raise at least Ksh.174 billion.

Through the Ministry of Treasury, the tax measures will be consolidated into three new bills that will be tabled before Parliament: Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Tax Procedures (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and Public Finance Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

Unlike in the past where the government tabled the bills without much fanfare, this time round the Treasury posted a two-page explainer on the local dailies to provide a detailed account of the new proposals. 

This was seen as a lesson from the Finance Bill 2024 that the State insisted had much to offer to Kenyans but was opposed due to widespread misinformation.

The move now risks further unrest from the public as new taxes would pile pressure on a population that is already struggling with the high cost of living. 

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said that the new bills would spur economic growth and assist in bridging the fiscal deficit through enhanced revenue collection.