The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning has tabled the much-anticipated Finance Bill 2019 (the Bill) for consideration by Parliament. This follows the presentation of the Budget Statement for the fiscal year 2018/2019 (discussed in our Highlights of the Budget Statement 2019/2020).

Please note that the Bill contains proposed amendments and is not yet law. It awaits the approval of Parliament and the assent of the President before it becomes an Act of Parliament. This requirement is as a direct result of the ruling in Okiya Omtatah Okoiti v Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury & 3 others [2018] eKLR, in which it was ruled that tax changes cannot be effected until Presidential assent is in place. Thus, the provisions of the Bill are proposed to enter into force either upon Presidential assent or on 1 January 2020.

It is expected that there will be changes to the Bill by the time it is assented to by the President due to lobbying by various groups affected by the proposed amendments. Further, as we witnessed last year, the President could make changes to the Bill, which could further alter the Bill materially.