Kenya Sugarcane Farmers Object To 16% Transport Tax. Many objections have been to the 16% VAT proposed by the Finance Bill 2024 on cane transportation to factories for processing.
Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers has expressed objections towards the proposed VAT, arguing that it could harm the sector’s progress.
Represented by the Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (KNSF), sugarcane growers claimed that the proposed VAT could cost them an additional Sh2 billion yearly.
In a letter addressed to the chairperson of the National Assembly Committee of Finance and the Principal Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, signed by the federation chairman Ezera Okoth treasurer William Kopi and secretary Killion Osur, the proposed VAT was described as punitive and discriminatory.
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Kenya Sugarcane Farmers Object To 16% Transport Tax: Farmer’s Argument
The farmers argued that they were being mistreated and urged the amendments to be removed from the bill.
In the letter, they maintained that the present cost of production is extremely high, and the industry is haemorrhaging due to a plethora of challenges.
Therefore, imposing VAT on the transportation of sugarcane will worsen the situation and cause serious damage to farming.
It was mentioned that condoning duty-free sugar imports while levying supplemental transport taxes on local crops hurts local farmers.
There were also questions regarding why the government is not imposing this tax on other crops.
They asked if the government is promoting sugar cane farming in other countries and killing it in Kenya.
On a happier note, Kenya Association of Sugarcane and Allied Products (Kasap) Chairman Charles Atiang’ accepted President William Ruto’s commitment to invest Sh2 billion in the growth of sugarcane farming.
He announced this at the 61st Madaraka Day celebration in Bungoma, where he mentioned that the National Treasury would make available an initial tranche of Sh600 million for seed cane development this week.
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