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Senator Hassan Omar of Mombasa County who also addressed the press said Kenyas Parliament needs to
appreciate its responsibility in safeguarding the publics interests, adding that the reason people steal is
because there is complicity and people are aware of it.
Provisions under Article 12 of the Agreement which relates to royalties also restrict at- source withholding
tax to half (10 per cent) of Kenya domestic rate of 20 per cent. This will significantly weaken Kenyas ability
to raise revenue to finance its development.
Additionally provisions under Article 20 of the Agreement reserves all taxation of other income not dealt
with in specific Articles to the residence state. This effectively reduces withholding tax to zero per cent on
services, management fees, insurance commissions among others, whereas Kenyan domestic withholding
tax rate currently stands at 20 per cent. This is a major gap that will lead to massive revenue leakages.
The Agreement is neither United Nations nor OECD compliant and it also fails to address the issue of
disposal of shares in companies. The Agreement effectively reserves under Article 13.4 all taxation of capital
gains from selling shares in companies to Mauritius where the effective Capital Gains Tax is zero per cent.
Under the Agreement foreign investors in Kenya can acquire Kenyan companies through Mauritius holding
companies and Kenya cannot tax any of the gains when they sell these businesses again. This is open to
abuse. Similarly, domestic Kenyan investors can dodge Kenyan taxes by round-tripping their investments
illicitly through Mauritian shell companies. Kenyan companies can also easily avoid Kenyan taxes in
dividends paid to foreign investors through devices like share buy-backs therefore deny the government of
development funds.
The provision is very similar to the Capital Gains Tax Article in the India-Mauritius treaty which has
proved very controversial costing India an estimated US$600 million a year in revenues as a result of tax
avoidance and illicit round-tripping by Indian business executives driving the Government of India to
initiate steps to renegotiate its agreement with Mauritius.
Under the definition of bilateral treaty in Section 2 of the Treaty Making and Ratification Act an
agreement such as the one between Kenya and Mauritius and which is the subject matter of this legal case,
is a treaty subject to the Act and therefore requires that the Cabinet Secretary to the Treasury in
consultation with the Attorney General, submit to the Cabinet the treaty, together with a memorandum
outlining, inter alia
1. Policy and legislative considerations,
2. Financial implications
3. Implications on matters relating to counties,
4. The views of the public on the ratification of the treaty.
Mauritius presently has tax treaties with 13 African countries namely Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Swaziland, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and
Zimbabwe. Apart from Kenya, Mauritius also has signed Double Taxation Agreements with Congo, Zambia
and Nigeria. Currently Mauritius is negotiating DTAs with Algeria, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana,
Malawi and Tanzania.
Unlike Mauritius DTA with Uganda and Nigeria, for example, which have specific provisions for
withholding tax for management/technical services fees, Kenya failed to negotiate any such provisions.
In a related development, the Government of Kenya has signed an equally harmful Double Tax Agreement
with United Arab Emirates and Qatar both of which are tax havens in which Kenya further deems its
right to tax as unnecessary in a bid to attract investment from these two countries.
These agreements will deepen Kenyas current cash crunch by allowing the further erosion of the countrys
tax base. END.
ABOUT TJN-A:
Tax Justice Network-Africa (TJN-A) is a Pan-African initiative and a member of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice. It is a
network of 29 members in 16 African countries. TJN-A collaborates closely with these member organisations in tax justice
advocacy at the national and regional levels. TJN-A seeks to promote socially just and progressive taxation systems in Africa,
advocating for pro-poor tax policies and the strengthening of tax systems to promote domestic resource mobilisation. TJN-A
aims to challenge harmful tax policies and practices that favour the wealthy and aggravate and perpetuate inequality.
For further enquiries, please email Kwesi Obeng at kobeng@taxjusticeafrica.net (+254 726 804 400) and/or
Michelle Mbuthia at mmbuthia@taxjusticeafrica.net (+254 724 994 796).