Today as i was doing my regular perusals in the national dailies something just prompted me to dash to the back of the paper, i stumbled upon several well written articles my brothers at Deloite on matters of taxation but my conclusion on the issues is that we are in trouble.
parliament took their time by dilly dallying with the finance bill, hoodwinking members of the august house with hefty allowances just to pass a bill so flawed it actually wreaks of impunity. Apparently my fellow statesmen those of you that still use the antiquated ETR machines, well the taxman will be at your door step within no time. this culminated after parliament passed a bill which necessitates that all tax paying enterprises must have the ETR which is GPS enabled. this directive was to take effect as off the second day of last month but because the taxman himself does not have machinations to implement it for now we are safe.
This law is not only punitive but also it deals a great blow to small business owners because the burden of taxation has become too heavy. from my local shopping centre i imagine my friends kilongozi and wepukhulu who have very thriving businesses will have to dig deeper into their pocket to afford the gadget of which i doubt whether my village can even access common mobile phone network leave alone GPS. They even wouldn't know what to do with it but serikal imesema, so they have no voice but as for me as an enlightened person let me make noise the only way i know how apart from stone throwing and intimidation of the police.
Statistics from a reputable firm have shown that most business owners live from hand to mouth yet they have a thriving empire, one would wonder why! but why wont they when the tax obligation is so massive, it overwhelms them. what do you expect a person who innocently started a shop which out of no fault of his has become so successful that KRA has gotten wind and they require poor wepukhulu to file returns when the basic principle of mathematics attained at the early stages his timid life, is what he has proudly held on, punching onto his Casio calculator to ascertain the amount due and giving back change.
it a very sad state of affairs that even as we continue to overburden the poor in society the rich continue to get away with aspects of tax evasion and other fraudulent transaction, but if the mwananchi at the grass root files return even a day later they attract a hefty fine amounting to at least 20% of the total tax while the same tax evader with more money pays the same, you tell me what the rationale for such tax systems, i mean which is more criminal my brothers and sisters, its time that the hegemony of the exchequer be checked so that the majority poor are not trampled over by the oncoming bulldozer of tycoons.
if our tax systems continue with this kind of inconsistencies and lack of care for the small income earners then the vision 2030 remains a pipe dream, because all the other factors of the economy have progressed while the SME's dwindle in productivity. we have had this Income Tax act for the past 40 years surely, times have changed and the document has been amended times without number, like our old constitution it requires a replacement which stands the taste of time, its of no help having a new VAT Act and ignoring the income tax act which is of more importance than the latter.
people deliberate on that but we are serious in a drowning mans boat while the aristocrats watch us drown.
oww nice post
ReplyDelete