Members of Parliament (MPs) have passed the proposed Finance Bill 2025, which will raise funds to support the financial year 2025/26 budget.
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The MPs unanimously agreed to withdraw the controversial clauses in the bill, which Kenyans and industry stakeholders opposed.
What’s the next step for Finance Bill 2025
Among the controversial clauses was clause 52, which sought to amend Section 59A(1B) of the Tax Procedures Act and allow the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) access to business and personal data.
The National Assembly Committee on Finance and National Planning, led by Molo MP Kimani Kuria, adopted the views from the public in its report, urging MPs to pass it with the recommended changes.
“All the members of the public that appeared before us said that the provision needs to be deleted… and we agreed because this particular provision goes against our constitutional right on privacy and also goes against other laws on data and privacy,” said Kuria.
The bill will now proceed to the presidential assent, where President William Ruto has 14 days to approve or send it back to parliament with further recommended amendments.
If it is referred back, the MPs have a role to either amend it or pass it again without amendments, and if the president fails to act on the bill within the next 14 days, then it is deemed to be passed.
How much will govt raise from Finance Bill?
The Finance Bill 2025 projected a revenue collection of KSh 24 billion to finance the KSh 4.29 trillion budget.
The lawmakers slashed the revenue estimates from the initial KSh 30 billion proposed by the National Treasury.
However, the reduction in the Finance Bill 2025 revenue estimates raised the budget deficit for the financial year starting July 1, 2025, to KSh 997.5 billion, up from KSh 882 billion.
More to follow…
Source: TUKO.co.ke
