Business Daily Advertisement Ernst & Young sends 42 top managers home Monday, June 15, 2020 8:00 There are questions about the motivation of the head office to lay off the workers. Gitahi Gachahi Outgoing CEO Gitahi Gachahi. FILE PHOTO | NMG By NG'ANG'A MBUGUA More by this Author IN SUMMARY The firm‘s outgoing CEO Gitahi Gachahi said the firm has been performing well financially, raising questions about the motivation of the head office to lay off the workers.

The adjustment is in line with the law that demands excise duty be revised upwards in tandem with the cost of living measure or the average rate of inflation in the 12 months through June. Last year, the taxman adjusted excise duty by 5.17 percent on inflation, from 5.2 percent in 2018, and the Treasury expects the levy at about 5.3 percent. Reference:https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/news/New-tax-to-raise-beer--fuel--motorbike-prices/539546-5576488-view-asAMP-a9ydo5/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

When Vasco Da Gama arrived in Kenya in 1499 little did he know that some five hundred years later, Kenyan universities and Portuguese universities would be having academic exchange programs.

Speaking during a courtesy call to the University of Nairobi Vice Chancellor, H. E. Luisa Fragoso, Head of Missions, Portugal revealed that the exchange programs between the universities in Portugal and the University of Nairobi would be centered around science, health, engineering, architecture, history and archeology.

Titled ‘Viability of Lifestyle Audits as an Anti-Corruption Strategy in Kenya: A Critical Assessment of the Policy, Legal and Administrative Framework,’ Eric’s thesis has been lauded by the Senate of the Republic of Kenya as a timely and significant study.

Analysts at NCBA and investment bank Genghis Capital say tax projections contained in this year’s budget remain ambitious in the face of the prevailing economic reality where there are job losses and businesses being slowed down by the Covid-19 restriction measures.

The Treasury targets total revenue and ordinary revenue of Sh1.871 trillion and Sh1.621 trillion respectively in the 2020/21 fiscal year.

Insurance companies have so far paid Sh108.2 million on Covid-19 death claims since the disease was reported in Kenya mid-March.

According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), the total claims have hit Sh109.6 million, including Sh1.45 million paid for general health cover.

Coronavirus, which causes the disease, has infected more than 3,000 people and caused 89 deaths.

The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) said that the industry has so far settled 10 life insurance claims.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm Monday redeemed its Sh6.6 billion outstanding corporate bond, enabling it to cut finance costs and raise cash returns to shareholders.

The latest debt settlement follows the retirement of Sh7.8 billion dollar-denominated loans in September last year.

In proposed changes in the Finance Bill 2020, Mr Yatani is seeking the green light from Parliament to compel firms which have not been taxed elsewhere to pay one percent of gross sales to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

The Bill contains new measures which will help generate new revenue to partly fund the Sh3.2 trillion budget.

The proposed levy to be known as minimum tax will take effect January 2021 and is largely targeted at companies which do not pay corporate income tax, which is based on profit.

Treasury secretary Ukur Yatani wants monthly or lump sum pension paid to senior citizens subjected to applicable income taxes through the proposed changes in the Finance Bill 2020.

Mr Yatani has reintroduced the proposal in the Bill after it was voted out by lawmakers in the Tax Amendment Act which was passed in April to cushion businesses and workers from Covid-19 shocks.

It appears that the bigger concern for the government is how to increase its revenues to reduce the mismatch with its expenditures. The sharp decline in government revenues as a result of the negative impact of the pandemic on economic activity and tax cuts, particularly on individual taxpayers means that we should expect a wider fiscal deficit for as long as the current economic conditions persist.