The National Assembly’s (NA’s) Finance and Planning Committee proposes that the Housing levy be deducted from employees, not employers, effective January 2024.

The National Assembly’s (NA’s) Finance and Planning Committee Chairman Molo MP Kimani Kuria is also proposing a reduction of 1.5 per cent from 3 per cent in the housing levy proposed under the Finance Bill 2023.

During a public participation hearing in Naivasha over the weekend, Kuria recommended that the Housing Levy be reduced by half.

“An amendment that has a huge financial implication, you must find a way of recouping that financial implication so that you are able now to fund a budget; otherwise you are going to get into a crisis where we have approved a budget and we have not provided the resources to do it,” Kuria said.

The 2023 Finance Bill, which will be tabled in Parliament tomorrow, proposes a 3 per cent deduction for all salaried Kenyans, with employers matching the same amount for housing projects.

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Pooled funds are part of President William Ruto’s administration’s agenda to actualise affordable housing for millions of Kenyans.

However, the tax has elicited criticism from employers and employees, who say the deduction will burden their already dwindling purchasing power amid high inflation.