“There is no country that grows and becomes economically stable without taxing its people,” this is according to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
Speaking in an interview with Citizen TV, Mudavadi dismissed sentients by a section of Kenyans who feel that they are being overtaxed by the Kenya Kwanza administration.
According to Mudavadi the current tax regimes are not punitive, but are aimed at stabilising an already distressed Kenya’s economy.
“The government gets its revenue to undertake its functions only through borrowing, which leads to debts and taxes collected from its people. Even in developed countries nobody likes or enjoys paying tax. But that remains the rule of thumb for a country to sustain itself,” Mudavadi, who is also the CS for Foreign & Diaspora Affairs, said.
He added: “We are working hard as a government to seal the loopholes of tax evasion even as we look for other avenues on how we can generate revenue. What we are encouraging and working on is expanding the tax bracket and not increasing taxes. That is why we are looking for opportunities for creating more jobs so that many people can be enrolled in the tax payment quarter.”
In another interview on Thursday, December 21, Mudavadi hinted that the government would consider reducing taxes in various sectors once the economy recovers.
