GG

Daddy, Entrepreneur, loves numbers n stats they generate. Creative director @CreativesIdeal Inc
. ~Preserve Nature or destroy humanity

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@SqSehrish 69

[Faith Odhiambo @FaithOdhiambo8]

The Finance Bill, 2026 was published on 30th April and is now before Parliament and every Kenyan deserves to know what is in it.

The government targets Ksh3.63 trillion in revenue for 2026/27 and a wider budget deficit of 5.3% of GDP in the 2026/27 fiscal year (July-June) up from 4.7% in 2025/26. These are not unreasonable fiscal objectives but the manner in which the burden of achieving them is distributed is a cause for serious concern.

On tax filing timelines, the Bill moves the income tax return deadline to April 30th which is two months earlier than the current June 30th and compresses nil return filing to January 31st. This reduces the time available for audit completion, cash flow planning and compliance. For small businesses and individual traders, this is not administrative reform. It is an additional compliance cost they can ill afford.

On mitumba, the Bill inserts a new Section 12H into the Income Tax Act which deems profit at 5% of customs value payable upfront before goods are released by KRA as a final tax. A trader importing a bale worth Ksh1 million pays Ksh50,000 regardless of whether they make a profit or a loss. I cannot in good conscience describe this as equitable.

 The Bill increases residential rental income tax from 7.5% to 10%. Absent a serious enforcement framework, this will drive non-compliance rather than revenue. The government must fix the enforcement gap before it increases the rate. One without the other is burden-shifting.

On digital financial services, the Bill removes existing VAT exemptions on money transfers and payment processing. These are the tools of financial inclusion that millions of Kenyans including the very people this government says it wants to reach rely on daily. Making them more expensive will not serve the objective of a broader tax base.

 By including interchange and merchant service fees within the definition of management or professional fees for withholding tax purposes, the Bill introduces a compliance burden into automated banking processes. That burden will be passed on to businesses and ultimately to consumers.

The amendment to Section 24 of the Income Tax Act empowers KRA to deem at least 60% of a company's undistributed income as dividends for tax purposes. This fails to account for legitimate decisions on reinvestment, working capital and business growth. It is a retrogressive measure that sends the wrong signal to the investors Kenya needs.

A 25% excise duty on telephones for cellular and wireless networks is proposed. A phone is not a luxury. It is how Kenyans bank, communicate, conduct business and access government services. Parliament must interrogate this carefully.

On PAYE, Kenyans were led to expect relief and a restructuring of the tax bands to ease the burden on salaried workers. That proposal does not appear in this Bill. That is not a minor omission. An explanation is owed to every employed Kenyan who was waiting for it.

To be fair, the Bill is not without merit. The reduction of corporate tax for non-resident companies from 37.5% to 30% improves our investment climate. The extension of the tax amnesty to cover liabilities up to 31st December 2025 provides a genuine and welcome pathway to compliance. VAT exemptions on electric buses, bicycles, dialysers, animal feed raw materials and PPP infrastructure are sensible measures. The clarity introduced on trust taxation ensuring beneficiaries are not taxed on income already taxed at the trust level and the recognition of gratuity contributions as exempt income are also steps in the right direction.

Be that as it may, we cannot afford a repeat of June 2024. Parliament must discharge its oversight role with the seriousness this moment demands. They should not merely rubber-stamp what the Treasury has placed before it. Every clause must be scrutinised. Every punitive or ambiguous provision must be rejected or amended.

#FinanceBill2026 #PublicParticipation

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@FaithOdhiambo8 The MSC is made up of Interchange, network fees (by schemes (Visa/MasterCard/Amex etc), processor fees (tech providers), connectivity (Data, APNs), & a small margin to cater to agents Opex. Other fees such as International Acquirer Fee (IAF) applied on cross-border trxns.

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@FaithOdhiambo8 Taxing Merchant fees (MSC/MSF) and interchange (IRF) is double taxation, since the agent (Acquirer bank) that charges MSC, also collects the IRF on behalf of the beneficiary (Issuing bank). The MSC itself is not income rather to the agent, rather a fee applied to card trxns

[Feiyan Xie @FeiyanXie]

遇事不要慌张，没困难也要制造困难😎

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@FeiyanXie Amaze~balls

[George Njoroge @georgenjoroge_]

I’ve stood as best man for many couples… but this one, my friend, this one needs its own medical journal.

So this young couple Albo & Millie, I bested last month shows up last night looking very serious.

I’m thinking maybe finances, in-laws, the usual marriage starter pack… kumbe it’s something else entirely.

They tell me after the wedding, they head to Watamu for the honeymoon.

On getting to the room, Champagne opened, love vibes correct, life looking promising.

Then reality started removing clothes.

First, the groom removes his socks.

The bride freezes.

“Eii babe… what happened to your feet? These toes look like they survived the US-Israel war on Iran.”

Albo, very calm, says, “Ah, I had tolio as a child.”

She squints. “You mean polio?”

“No no… tolio. It only affected my toes.”

At this point she’s already confused but amesema wacha nipumue… honeymoon must go on.

Next, the man drops his trousers.

Now the knees join the group chat.

“Jesus! What’s wrong with your knees? Why are they looking like my grandmother’s elbows?”

“My dear,” he says confidently, “I had kneasles.”

“You mean measles?”

“No, kneasles. It only attacked the knees.”

Now Millie is deep in prayer internally but amesema sawa… maybe love will carry this situation.

Finally… Albo removes his last layer.

Millie pauses. Looks. Thinks. Then just shakes her head slowly and says:

“Don’t even talk… let me guess… Smallcox?”

[irungu @irun9u]

@Ademba_47 Wanatukata hii pesa yote then wanaiba. Hosi hakuna daktari, Nairobi watu wanadrown, shiet
#NikoKadi #TukoKadi

[Ademba Allans @Ademba_47]

Let's remind them why #TukoKadi. Quote with why Uko Kadi.

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@GPX_News Ufala

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@AbsaKenya seeking assistance with retrieval of my IB username

[Manly Mentor @manly_mentor]

A Man who has no friend or small circle is…

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@BarackObama @MichelleObama Merry Christmas Obama's

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@ElephantSignal Yes of cos

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@beginnersblog1 Nano

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@Marcilenyaraa N8N

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@alex_prompter Research

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@Mirsadsolana $35.2K will clear some bad debts to start afresh

[GG @GaitaJoe]

@AtwoliiYa Hapa amefanana wa pate'r'o