NAIROBI, Kenya, April 28 – Kenyans are set to enjoy lower cooking gas prices if Parliament adopts a proposal in the Finance Bill 2023 to scrap three taxes from the commodity.
A dispatch from State House on Thursday said the William Ruto administration will ask Parliament to exempt cooking gas from the 8 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT), the 3.5 percent Import Declaration Fees(IDF)and the Railway Development Levy(RDL) of 2 per cent.
“To reduce the cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and make it affordable, reduce the use of biomass fuel and destruction of our forests, the Bill proposes to exempt LPG from VAT, RDL and IDF,” the dispatch read.
The Finance Bill 2023 will be tabled in Parliament before June.
The proposal to lower the cost of cooking gas comes at a time when the prices of the commodity are at a record high with the 13 kg cylinder retailing at an average of Sh3,300.
In February, President William Ruto directed the Ministry of Energy to embark on plans that will subsidise prices of cooking cylinders and enhance uptake of LPG in the country within the next three years.
“We will allocate money that will enable us to reduce cooking gas prices, we will do away with taxes and enable our women to cook without thinking about their health,” Ruto said.
President Ruto noted that the use of LPG is a major step towards clean domestic energy consumption, noting that household LPG use in Kenya is greater than the African average of 3 kg per capita, but falls below global practice of between 10-15 kg per capita.
According to the 2023 State of the Petroleum Industry report, LPG consumption in the country has been on an upward trend from 93,600 metric tonnes in 2012 to 373,865 metric tonnes in 2021.
It, however, noted that consumption has fallen as a result of the reintroduction of the 16 per cent and eight per cent VAT in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
