MBUGUA: Kenyans are being taxed to the bone by both national and county governments
What you need to know:
- Because of the high rate of taxation, the pockets of Kenyans are at risk of becoming transit points for money. No sooner does some land than it quickly takes another flight to pay for one government levy or the other.
- In Rwaka, the Kiambu County government has stationed a parking attendant outside an ATM booth. Motorists going to withdraw money have to pay a parking fee even if they are spending a minute in the booth.
Kenya is fast becoming a land where a taxpayer and his money are soon parted, raising questions about the government’s growing appetite. There are just too many taxes, levies, fees and other charges that the working public has to pay. Why?
With each dawn, the public wakes up to find that there is something they need to pay for, be it the free range chicken scrounging in the backyard or the grave in which a loved one lies.
Because of the high rate of taxation, the pockets of Kenyans are at risk of becoming transit points for money. No sooner does some land than it quickly takes another flight to pay for one government levy or the other.
If nothing is done to slow down the trend, Kenya is at risk of becoming too pricey for the comfort of its citizens. And that is where the troubles for this administration will begin.
It would appear that the two levels of government are determined to penalise industry and enterprise by taxing workers and local investors to a point where carrying on becomes uneconomical.
Even businesses that were in the past considered as something to keep young men away from crime have attracted the eye of the taxman who is slapping all manner of levies on such things as kiosks and boda bodas without even the courtesy of providing a conducive environment for them to run their business.
And, with every new dawn, the two levels of government devise more and more curious ways of getting their people to pay more taxes. In Nairobi, for instance, the county government has just announced its intention to charge parking fees in neighbourhood shopping areas such as Buru Buru, Umoja and Eastleigh.
In Rwaka, the Kiambu County government has stationed a parking attendant outside an ATM booth. Motorists going to withdraw money have to pay a parking fee even if they are spending a minute in the booth.
In Kakamega, small-scale farmers have been told they will need to pay a fee for keeping free range chicken. So every time a hen hatches, the farmer can expect the county taxman to knock on the door to demand his pound of flesh.
NSSF CONTRIBUTION
Add to these levies the demand by the national government for every worker in the economy to put their retirement savings in a mandatory scheme managed by the National Social Security Fund, an agency that has established itself as an irredeemably incompetent at investing the savings of its long-suffering members.
Even the cost of evading the long arm of the law has gone up exponentially. The story is told — and there is reason to believe it to be true — that traffic police officers have set up a roadblock at the junction of Kiambu road and the turn-off to Runda.
Here, every vehicle, without exception, is stopped and the drivers required to take Alcoblow tests. According to one narrative, a well-heeled businessman paid Sh8,000 to restrain the officers from booking him.
How much does the public pay for these official and not-so-official levies and where does the money end up?
Is it a wonder that parents are paying huge bribes to ensure their sons and daughters join the Police Service despite its history of poor pay? Is it a wonder that some of those officers being vetted are worth hundreds of millions and others fear they will die if retired early?
We might be tempted to think that this is a public sector problem. However, the practice appears to be going viral with private citizens catching the same affliction as their government.
A cursory look at the cost of goods and services is enough to raise serious concerns about the sanity of the pricing model used in Kenya.
Why for instance, would a street boy ask for Sh100 for one to park a vehicle in a council slot? What exactly is one paying for — the space or the assurance that one’s vehicle will not be vandalised? Even if one were paying for both, what logic informs this emerging market?
There are those who will say that this example is an aberration. But what will they say about the price of land and vehicles, or even clothes and other basic goods like shoes? How do some retailers arrive at their prices? Is there a method to the madness?
Will a time come when goods and services will be fairly priced or should we, eh, accept and move on?
