The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) will announce new pump prices on Friday, June 30.
Kenyans will have to pay more money for fuel as the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) moves to include the additional 8 percent value added tax (VAT) on the products.
In a public notice, EPRA says that the new prices will be effective starting this week.
Increased fuel prices come after President William Ruto signing the 2023 Finance Bill that recommended VAT on petroleum products be increased to 16 percent from the current 8 percent.
“On 26th June 2023, H.E. the President Dr William Ruto signed into law the Finance Bill, 2023 introducing a 16 percent VAT on petroleum products. Accordingly, @EPRA_Ke will tomorrow 30th June 2023 release the reviewed petroleum prices in compliance with the finance bill 2023,” EPRA said in a notice.
The VAT
The National Assembly’s Committee on Finance and Planning said it had weighed the good and the bad of doubling VAT on the economy and made a decision that the positives outweigh the negatives, backing the National Treasury’s proposal to increase the taxes.
“The committee noted that the existing VAT rates were not standard and thus intended to harmonize the rate to 16 per cent including for petroleum products. It also agreed that the effect of the differential VAT on fuel led to petroleum distributors being in a constant credit position, thus leading to high expenditure for the government.
The committee rejected the proposal (opposing the introduction of 16 per cent VAT on fuel),” said the Committee in its report on the Finance Bill, noting that the proposal was among the most unpopular in the Bill.
Previously, Petroleum products were subjected to 8 per cent VAT.
This comes about two weeks after EPRA announced new fuel prices for the month of June-July. The price change was to run from June 15 to July 14, 2023.
By Wanjiru Mbaru