Publishers protest MPs book tax snub

Publishers have criticised MPs for rejecting their plea to scrap Value Added Tax on books, saying the decision would deal a blow to education.

Kenya Publishers Association Chairman David Waweru said the cost of books was beyond the reach of many Kenyans because of the tax.

“The question we need to ask is why Parliament is very hostile to the people, even when there is evidence that VAT on books is counterproductive,” Mr Waweru told journalists in Nairobi on Sunday.

He said out of the Sh1,420 every pupil gets in the free primary education scheme, only Sh724 was used to buy instructional materials, meaning with VAT, schools could only get fewer books.

“The impact of not having enough books in schools is evident. Uwezo Kenya has published reports to the effect that 50 per cent of children in Standard Four and Five cannot comprehend stories written for Standard Two pupils and that only three out of 10 children can do Standard Two work,” Mr Waweru added.

He wondered why the government was keen to reduce VAT on other items but ignored books.

“With VAT on books, households and schools can only buy fewer units. This has led to recession in the publishing industry,” Mr Waweru said.

“The question of how investment in intellectual assets is treated in the tax system plays an increasing role in tax policy in many countries. Our tax policy places higher value on tangible assets.”

At the same time, he called on the government not to centralise procurement of text books in schools, saying it would lead to more chaos.

He instead asked the State to strengthen the audit department in the Education ministry so that the 1:1 pupil book ratio could be achieved.

He said the government should scrap VAT on books and their inputs, which would reduce cost by up to 30 per cent, given the compounding effect of the tax.

“With a more efficient system in place, it will be possible to reduce discount to distributors to 15 per cent and pass a 10 per cent discount to the Education ministry, enabling the purchase of more books with the same amount of money,” Mr Waweru said.