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The Finance and Planning Committee has handed Kenyans a reprieve after slashing the housing levy contribution by half.
The committee, which completed a weekly report on Sunday, June 11, proposed that the housing levy be decreased from 3% to 1.5%.
The committee reached the decision after reviewing tens of petitions from members of the public regarding many oppressive clauses.
“The committee has come to an agreement on all the clauses and made some amendments based on the petitions we got from members of the public,” said Molo MP Kimani Kuria.
Aside from lowering the housing levy, the committee made changes with respect to remittance and rollout of the proposed deductions.
The Kuria-led committee recused employers from matching the remittances and proposed a deferral of the levy until January 2024 to allow for the formulation of relevant laws by the government.
“For an amendment that has a huge financial implication, you must find a way of recouping that implication. Otherwise, we are going to get a crisis where we have approved and we have not provided the resources to do so,” Kuria explained.
He noted that the delayed rollout of the contribution would give the Kenya Kwanza government enough time to enact proper laws that will manage the Finance Housing Fund. The National Treasury had proposed the deductions to take effect from July 1st, 2023.
The committee however kept the proposed 16% Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel.
The Finance Bill is set to be debated in the National Assembly on Tuesday, June 13, two days before the Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u announces the 2023/2024 budget.
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