Relief as Parliament drop taxes on Kenyan-made pasta in Bill

Parliament has scrapped a proposal to impose a 20 percent excise duty on locally manufactured pasta, handing consumers already facing the high cost of living a major reprieve. The Finance and National Planning Committee dropped the proposal in the Finance Bill 2023 to impose a tax on locally-made pasta. “The committee observed that it is important to protect the local industry to give them a competitive advantage,” Kuria Kimani, who chairs the committee, said in a report on the scrutiny of the Finance Bill. Read: Court declines to quash excise duty on imported pasta Currently, My Pasta Limited is the only company in Kenya that manufactures pasta. Kenya imports all other pasta which attracts a 20 percent excise duty introduced in the Finance Bill, 2021. The committee dropped the proposed imposition of 20 percent excise duty on both imported and locally produced pasta following a petition by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. The manufacturer’s lobby told the Finance and ...