The Tax Procedures (Amendment) Bill, 2024
Status Timeline
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Public Review
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Debate
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Executive
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Final
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Tax Amnesty Extended to June 2025
Amends Section 37E of the Tax Procedures Act to move the deadline for the tax amnesty program from June 30, 2024, to June 30, 2025. This allows taxpayers to apply for the waiver of interest and penalties on outstanding tax liabilities accrued up to December 31, 2022.
New System for Tax Abandonment and Relief
Inserts a new Section 37F allowing the Commissioner to refer cases of doubtful or difficult tax recovery to the Cabinet Secretary. Relief may be granted for impossibility, expense, or hardship, subject to gazettement every four months and approval or annulment by the National Assembly within 21 days.
Exclusion of Weekends and Holidays from Objection Deadlines
Amends Section 77 of the Act to clarify that Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays are excluded when computing the statutory period for lodging objections to the Commissioner under Sections 51, 52, 53, and 54.
Bill No.
No. 43 of 2024
Gazette No.
Supplement No. 165 of 2024
Sponsor
Kimani Ichung'wah
Background
The Tax Procedures (Amendment) Bill, 2024, proposes several key amendments to the Tax Procedures Act (Cap. 469B). The Bill aims to extend the tax amnesty program that lapsed on June 30, 2024, to allow more taxpayers to clear principal tax liabilities and receive relief from penalties and interest. Additionally, the Bill introduces structured relief provisions for taxes that are difficult or impossible to recover and updates rules for calculating deadlines for tax objections.
Key Amendments
- Extension of Tax Amnesty (Section 37E): The Bill extends the deadline for the tax amnesty program from June 30, 2024, to June 30, 2025. Taxpayers who apply and pay all outstanding principal taxes due before December 31, 2022, will remain eligible for amnesty on penalties and interest.
- Introduction of Tax Relief Mechanism (Section 37F): A new section is introduced to handle cases where tax recovery is highly problematic. The Commissioner may refer cases to the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury to approve the partial or total relief of unpaid taxes under any of the following conditions:
- Recovery of the tax is impossible.
- Recovery involves undue difficulty or expense.
- Recovery would cause hardship or inequity.
- Other reasons occasioning an inability to recover the unpaid tax.
- Objection Timelines (Section 77): The computation of time for lodging tax objections to the Commissioner under sections 51, 52, 53, and 54 is amended. Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays are explicitly excluded from the calculation of these periods.
New Obligations
- Publication of Tax Reliefs: The Cabinet Secretary is obligated to publish a notice in the Gazette at least once every four months. This notice must declare the names of the taxpayers granted relief, the specific reasons for the relief under Section 37F(1), and the exact amount of taxes abandoned.
- Legislative Oversight: The Cabinet Secretary must lay the gazetted tax relief notices before the National Assembly without unreasonable delay. The National Assembly has 21 sitting days from the date the notice is laid to pass a resolution to either approve or annul the notice.
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