[Photo: Courtesy]A raft of controversial taxes Treasury imposed through an alternative legislation pending enactment of the Finance Bill, 2018 are illegal, a court has ruled. Those affected are tariffs on mobile money transfers, kerosene and bottled water that were to be collected for six months prior to Parliament's approval and presidential assent to the Finance Bill, 2018. In June, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich published a legal notice indicating that he would use the Provisional Collection of Taxes and Duties Act of 2018 to enforce part of the Finance Bill. The notice was meant to cushion the taxman from failing to hit the set collection target due to delays in passing the Finance Bill. The judge, however, clarified that the case was not about the constitutionality of the Finance Bill but its implementation on provisional basis before being passed into law.

Source: Standard Digital September 19, 2018 18:09 UTC