Road tolls a double tax

What you need to know:

  • The government should seriously consider protests from the Consumers Federation of Kenya that new user fees on the roads would amount to double-taxation.
  • The fact is that toll stations existed on some major roads in the past, but they were removed and replaced with road maintenance levy on the petrol pump price.

The government is moving ahead with plans for the re-introduction of toll stations on some major highways.

While it is right that motorist should contribute to the maintenance of roads, they should not be overburdened.

The government should seriously consider protests from the Consumers Federation of Kenya that new user fees on the roads would amount to double-taxation.

The fact is that toll stations existed on some major roads in the past, but they were removed and replaced with road maintenance levy on the petrol pump price.

The rationale for the shift was that the fee would then be payable by all motorists rather than only those using specific roads and driving through the toll stations.

Another reason was that collecting the money from petrol sales would be much more efficient and also eliminate the corruption and traffic bottlenecks associated with toll stations.

To date, a substantial portion of petroleum prices includes the roads maintenance levy. It follows that this levy must now be dropped from the price of petrol once the toll stations are brought back. Anything less would amount to fleecing of the taxpayer.