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A parliamentary committee tasked to review the controversial Finance Bill has dropped all the contested proposals ahead of the tabling of the report on Tuesday.

A source close to the team told People Daily they will this morning brief President William Ruto during a parliamentary group meeting at State House.

One of the most contentious clauses on the bill, the removal of bread from the list of items that are zero-rated for VAT purposes, has been dropped. Bread is currently on a list of zero-rated items that include flour, milk and sanitary products.

 The contentious motor vehicle tax at a rate of 2.5 per cent of the value of the motor vehicle has also been declined. The proposed tax provided that the tax payable shall not be less than Sh5,000 but shall not exceed Sh100,000.

“The value of the motor vehicle shall be determined on the basis of the make, model, engine capacity in cubic centimetres and year of manufacture of the motor vehicle. The KRA is expected to issue guidelines for purposes of determining the value of a motor vehicle,” reads the bill.

 Insurers of motor vehicles should have been tasked to collect and remit motor vehicle tax within five working days after issuing a motor vehicle insurance cover.

 An insurer that fails to comply would have been slapped with a penalty equivalent to 50 per cent of the uncollected tax and the actual amount of the uncollected tax.

Eco levy

The committee has also done away with the proposed bid to impose excise duty of 25 per cent on crude palm oil and finished cooking oil.

The Association of Edible Oil and Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) have opposed the tax, protesting that it would see the price go up by almost 80 per cent.

On the Eco levy proposed in the bill, the committee has proposed that it be imposed on finished imported products only.

It means an item assembled in the country will not be affected even if the raw materials are imported.

 The Treasury is seeking in the bill to introduce a new levy for manufacturers and importers which is aimed at protecting the environment. As proposed in the Finance Bill 2024, the Eco Levy targets goods that are deemed to negatively affect the environment.

Candidly discuss

 MPs we talked to said they plan to use today’s PG meeting to confront President Ruto on the reality on the group and the concerns said by Kenyans.

 The lawmakers who did not want to be mentioned said that they will use the opportunity to tell Ruto that the bill is going to harm Kenyans should it be passed in its current form. “We also want to present to the president amendments which we want adopted for them to support the bill when it comes to the floor of the house,” said one of them.

 They claimed that should the amendments not be adopted in today’s meeting, they will oppose some of the proposals in the bill during voting in the third reading stage.

 Said an MP who did not want to be named: “wait and see what happens in state house. We will tell the president to his face that this bill is not good for the country.”

 Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa said he will use the opportunity to candidly discuss the bill so that they can agree on the amendments that ought to be introduced on the bill during voting.

 He said: “Tomorrow’s meeting will not be to cheer the party leader, it will be to share with him what we have, we disagree with each other, agree and then later we reach consensus.”

He added: “We will wash our dirty linen at the State House, we will agree so that by the time this bill comes our dirty linen will be very clean and we will support it on the floor so that we can ensure that government programmes continue to run.”

Yesterday, “Manyatta MP Gitonga Mukunji said he had prepared a number of amendments, among them a proposal to scrap the proposed motor vehicle circulation tax which has been set at 2.5 per cent of the value of the vehicle.

He has also proposed an amendment to charge VAT on bread and want it zero rated instead.

“Some of the proposed taxes are not good for the country, they will bring down the economy,” said Mukunji.

Close to 30 Kenya Kwanza have prepared amendments to controversial bill in defiance to the party position.

Azimio MPs have been summoned for a parliamentary group meeting to plan on how to vote for the bill. In a text message to the MPs, Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi has asked them to acquaint themselves with the bill ahead of the voting date.