The National Treasury appears unsure how to go about this year’s Finance Bill following last year’s events that saw Kenyans stage countrywide protests to oppose the additional tax measures contained in the 2024 Money Bill.

The protests even forced President William Ruto not to assent to it. In the Finance Bill 2025, tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, the Treasury has avoided proposing new tax measures and instead has attempted to reform tax administration, with a key feature being the review of products that are VAT zero-rated by moving them to the list of VAT-exempt goods.

The Treasury has been seeking to stop abuse of VAT zero-rating, which has in the past resulted in huge and at times undeserving VAT refund claims.