Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta has proposed an increase in taxes on mobile payments and other money transfer services. This was contained in a document sent to the country’s parliament.
According to Reuters, the president planned to hike the excise duty on mobile money transfer fees from 10 percent to 12 percent. He also proposed a 20 percent fees charged by banks, money transfer services, and other financial institutions for each money transfer they do.
Although, Lawmakers and some members of the public have resisted the proposed law. In the documents, Kenyatta urged the parliament to reduce government expenditure by 55 billion Kenyan shillings (£413.6 million) from the 2.72 trillion-shilling budget proposed in June. He also proposed an excise duty of 15 percent on internet telephone services.
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Recalled that the biggest mobile phone operator in Kenya, Safaricom said it is opposed to any tax rise on mobile phone-based transfers, maintaining that it would hurt the poor, who do not have bank accounts and rely on mobile transfer services like M-Pesa.
In August, the parliament rejected an earlier version of proposed fees on money transfers of 0.05 percent on transfers of more than 500,000 shillings.