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Finance Bill 2026 sparks fierce tax debate amid cost-of-living strain.
The Finance Bill 2026 has reignited Kenya's annual battle over taxation, with the Treasury seeking to raise roughly KSh 120 billion in additional revenue at a time when households are already stretched. Among the most contested proposals is a 25% excise duty on mobile phones, alongside changes to digital-payment charges and the reclassification of some goods from zero-rated to VAT-exempt.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi defended the mobile-phone measure, but economists and business groups pushed back hard. The Kenya Revenue Authority is targeting KSh 2.7 trillion for 2025/26, rising toward KSh 2.9 trillion in 2026/27 – ambitions critics say cannot be met by squeezing the same over-taxed base.
"You cannot tax yourself to prosperity," warned KPMG's Kiema Onesmus, echoing a broad chorus of concern that higher levies on phones and digital transactions would hit ordinary Kenyans and the informal economy hardest. The debate carries political weight, coming after previous finance bills triggered mass protests. How Parliament balances revenue needs against public anger will shape both the budget and the national mood.
This story was put together by K N N from material first published by Capital FM.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
The Finance Bill 2026 has reignited Kenya’s annual battle over taxation, with the Treasury seeking to raise roughly KSh 120 billion in additional revenue at a time when households are already stretched. Among the most contested proposals is a 25% excise duty on mobile phones, alongside changes to digital-payment charges and the reclassification of some goods from zero-rated to VAT-exempt.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi defended the mobile-phone measure, but economists and business groups pushed back hard. The Kenya Revenue Authority is targeting KSh 2.7 trillion for 2025/26, rising toward KSh 2.9 trillion in 2026/27 — ambitions critics say cannot be met by squeezing the same over-taxed base.
“You cannot tax yourself to prosperity,” warned KPMG’s Kiema Onesmus, echoing a broad chorus of concern that higher levies on phones and digital transactions would hit ordinary Kenyans and the informal economy hardest. The debate carries political weight, coming after previous finance bills triggered mass protests. How Parliament balances revenue needs against public anger will shape both the budget and the national mood.
