All eyes are now on President
William Ruto after the National Assembly passed the Finance Bill, 2025, on June
19.
Members of Parliament approved the
crucial legislation after rejecting several contentious proposals that had
sparked public outrage for potentially burdening taxpayers further.
The Bill is a critical instrument
through which the government outlines revenue-raising measures to fund the
executive’s agenda for the 2025/26 financial year.
Following its smooth passage in
the House on Thursday, the President is expected to assent to the Bill at any
time, although the Constitution gives him 14 days to do so.
Last year, a nationwide wave of
protests forced President Ruto to reject the Finance Bill, 2024, referring it
back to Parliament for amendments and deletions.
Consequently, the country
continued to operate under the Finance Act, 2023, to calm public
anger over the controversial tax proposals contained in the rejected Bill.
The final vote on the Finance
Bill, 2025, was taken during the afternoon sitting of the House on Thursday,
June 19, following the conclusion of debate and the Third Reading the previous
night.
In the version of the Bill now
awaiting presidential assent, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) was stripped of
a contentious provision that would have granted it unfettered access to
customers’ financial records.
The Bill is expected to raise
approximately Sh24 billion in revenue, significantly lower than the National
Treasury’s initial projection of Sh30 billion.
This revenue will contribute to
the government’s target of Sh3.316 trillion in ordinary revenue for the 2025/26
fiscal year.
Finance and Planning Committee
Chairperson Kimani Kuria noted on June 17 that the Bill carries the lowest
revenue projections in the past three years among all revenue-raising measures.
He revealed that the government
had initially targeted Sh344 billion from the rejected Finance Bill, 2024, and
later projected Sh49 billion from the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024.
“The Finance Act of 2022 had a
projected revenue of Sh22 billion, the Finance Act of 2023 Sh211 billion, the
defunct Finance Bill, 2024 Sh344 billion, and the Tax Laws Amendment Act, 2024
Sh49 billion. The Finance Bill, 2025, will only collect Sh24 billion,” Kuria
stated.
Notably, the House adopted
amendments by the Finance and Planning Committee that rejected KRA’s proposal
for unrestricted access to personal data, arguing that it violated Article
31(c) and (d) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to privacy.
