An increase of taxes in the next Budget would be a shock to businesses in Kenya and erode the gains made in increasing the ease of doing business, Kenya Breweries Limited Managing Director Jane Karuku has said.
According to Mrs Karuku, an increase would similarly and negatively impact Kenyans, who are already facing an increase in the prices of food following the delay of the long rains.
Her view is that an increase in Excise Duty would drive low-earning consumers towards illicit alcohol, eroding recent gains from reinforcement. This would further endanger lives and deny the government revenues it is already making from regulated alcohol consumption.
“We need a predictable tax environment to not only guarantee this industry’s growth but also secure lives of over 45,000 farmers earning over 2 billion to deliver raw material to us. A tax shock would be counter-productive for business and hiking things such as corporate tax to 35 percent would be a shock to businesses,” she said.
Mrs Karuku spoke Wednesday ahead of the company’s presentation on proposed tax reform to the Treasury. The company presented its proposals after Treasury asked for contributions from the public and interested parties as the government prepares its Budget for the next financial year.
The Managing Director said that with companies coming out of the bad period following the lengthy electioneering of 2017, and with a lot of them issuing profit warnings, the Treasury should be careful not to implement policies that would harm business.
Treasury last year introduced changes to the law, and Excise Duty will now be reviewed annually, with the rate pegged to the average rate of inflation for the past year. An increase in food prices because of the delayed long rains is expected to have an effect of the rate of inflation.
EABL Corporate Relations Director Eric Kiniti said the company has been concerned about the lack of a harmonised taxation system by the national and county governments.
“Each county has its own law on the regulation of alcohol, since this falls under devolved functions, and we are working with the Council of Governors to push for the implementation of a uniform law on alcohol regulation across the counties,” he said.
While the overall environment has been good for business, said senior executives at Kenya Breweries, the delay of the long rains is going to affect millions of Kenyans because of the effect on food prices.
