NAIROBI, Kenya, May 15 — President William Ruto’s finance mobilization pointman in Parliament has defended a proposal to tax car owners annually saying those unwilling to pay their share can abandon their cars.
Molo lawmaker Kimani Kuria, who chairs the National Assembly Finance Committee, told NTV the “wealth tax” charged at 2.5 per cent of a car’s value up to a maximum of Sh100,000 will help secure Foreign Direct Investment for public sector transport.
“Every time investors want to invest in our public transport system through public-private partnerships, the feasibility studies show that we like to drive our cars so much that we are not able to attract foreign investment,” he said on Wednesday.
“If you don’t want to pay the motor vehicle circulation tax, then don’t use the car, like how you don’t use the expressway if you don’t want to pay for it,” he stated.
Kimani did not clarify how car owners would avoid the tax tied to insurance renewal.
Under the proposal contained in the Finance Bill 2024 which sets out revenue-raising measures for the 2024/25 Finance Year, underwriters will have five working days to remit the tax.
Failure to remit the tax on time will attract a 50 per cent penalty calculated on the unremitted tax in addition to the actual amount.
The law will exempt ambulances and government-owned vehicles from the motor vehicle circulation tax under the Privileges and Immunities Act.
