The Provisional Collection of Taxes and Duties (Repeal) Bill, 2025 (National Assembly Bills No. 18 of 2025) has been assented to.

The Act, sponsored by the Leader of Majority Party, Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah, repeals the Provisional Collection of Taxes and Duties Act, Cap. 415, a law that had been in operation since 1959. The Bill was passed by the National Assembly on 18th November 2025 without amendments.

Hon. Ichung’wah noted that the repeal was necessary to “clean up the statute book and affirm Parliament’s exclusive role in imposing taxes through legislation,” in line with the 2010 Constitution.

The now-repealed 1959 law had allowed the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury to provisionally collect taxes proposed in a revenue-raising Bill before Parliament’s approval. This effectively sidelined the Legislature’s constitutional authority on taxation matters.

The Act introduces amendments that repeal the Provisional Collection of Taxes and Duties Act, Cap. 415, to align it with the provisions of the Constitution on the collection of taxes and the decision of the Court in Okiya Omtatah Okoiti v Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury & 3 others [2018] KEHC 9439 (KLR) declaring the statute as unconstitutional.

In 2018, the High Court in the case declared the statute unconstitutional, citing that it contravened key provisions of the Constitution, including Articles 93(1), 94(1), 95(3), 96(2) and 109-113, which vest law-making and taxation powers solely in Parliament.

With the repeal, Kenya’s tax collection framework now fully conforms to the constitutional requirement that “no tax shall be imposed, waived or varied except as provided by legislation.”