The President signed the Finance Act, 2023 (“the Act”) into law on 26 June 2023. The Act, which was published on 26 June 2023 in the special issue of the Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 97 (Acts No. 4), has introduced amendments to the various tax statutes in Kenya, and other laws such as the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act, the Employment Act, and the Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Act, 2015.
Although most of the changes introduced by the Act have an effective date of 1 July 2023, there are some changes whose effective date is 1 September 2023 and 1 January 2024.
The Act faced several huddles since its enactment. On Friday, 30th June 2023, the High Court temporarily suspended its implementation, pending the determination of a petition filed by Senator Okiya Omtatah and six other activists. On 10th July 2023, the High Court in its ruling, suspended the implementation of the Act and directed that the petition proceeds for hearing and determination. However, on 11th July 2023, the government moved to court arguing that among others, the suspension of the Finance Act had the effect of halting the core operations of the Government and the government stood to suffer great financial loss in reduced revenue collection. By a ruling delivered on 28th July 2023, the Court of Appeal lifted the suspension orders made by the High Court on 10th July 2023, a decision that was later upheld by the Supreme Court on 8th September 2023.
This publication provides a detailed analysis of the amendments in the Act and their economic and fiscal impact.
