There's a full page in the Sunday Nation where the National Assembly seeks to explain the thinking behind a number of provisions in Finance Bill 2026.
What stands out for me:
1. The Assembly says that the proposed deletion of Sec42(14,e) regarding agency notices is designed to strengthen enforcement & enhance recoveries from taxpayers who "deliberately" want to avoid paying taxes using appeals
What the Assembly doesn't say is that even presently appeals at the High Court, by mutual consent between parties involved, attract security from the taxpayer depending on the quantum of the assessment issued by the Revenue Authority.
2. The Assembly argues that Finance Bill 2026 doesn't introduce any new tax on mobile phones. What it does is to consolidate existing taxes under a 25.0% excise duty rate.
What the Assembly doesn't say is that the Bill knocks off three crucial incentives that have been in place for locally assembled phones.
a) The first is input recovery since they are being reclassified from Zero Rated to Exempt
b) The second is excise exemption
c) The third is that while the Bill exempts imported finished phones from IDF & RDL, there's no equivalent relief for the imported inputs for locally assembled devices
3. Regarding the 20.0% Withholding Tax on betting & gaming winnings, the National Assembly says that the idea is to protect society against the practise of betting
What the Assembly doesn't say is that it was Finance Act 2025, just a year ago, that overhauled the tax regime on betting &, among other things, scrapped 20.0% Withholding Tax on gross winnings. We are all for protecting society, it is the flip flop around tax we take issue with.