What are my taxes for if I have to pay my medical bills, buy clean drinking water, pay for affordable housing and schooling for my kids? This question was posed by technology blogger Robert Alai on his Twitter timeline.
This observation brings to light the gruesome situation that citizens of these country have been subjected to in the recent past. The healthcare scheme saga the other day for instance dampened the spirits of contributors, majority of whom are low income earners in the country. Most of the contributors to National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) scheme hardly access any meaningful health assistance at public health facilities on the out patient arrangement.
The recent revelation of the health insurer channeling contributors’ funds to ghost clinics and other misappropriations shows how the common citizen has been reduced to levels of a slave of his own labour. On the scale, the lowest earners contribute more to the fund and hardly access any funded healthcare all year round.
Alai further says the government should lower tax rates and introduce slab-based rates based on the incomes and he reckons rich people should be taxed more and people with incomes of less than Sh50,000 per month should be exempt from all forms of taxes. If people who are overtaxed cannot access fair services and they have an account of what their money has been used for, which is not the intended purpose, then someone needs to answer.
Beginning July, the tax man will be collecting more taxes and the few essential items that were tax free or zero rated will now be taxed as the country requires to finance a trillion plus budget. This will clearly make life harder, but the big question is, will it get any better for the faithful tax payers?