A few months after the re-introduction of the capital gains tax in Kenya, that is now headed for some tweaking.

Even as they have tried to do their part, stockbrokers have challenged their role in the assessment and collection of the tax that was vaguely defined. E.g. some investors have had shares for years before they were immobilized (automated) and the tax was introduced, while others have bought shares at many different prices through the years.

A stockbroker tries to estimate a Kenyan investors capital gains

In his statement (PDF) on the 2015/16 Kenya budget last week, the Cabinet Secretary for The National Treasury noted that “..the implementation of the law has faced some challenges in some sectors of the economy. In order to address these challenges and ensure enforceability and compliance, I propose to remove the 5% on capital gains arising from sale of shares and introduce a 0.3% withholding tax on the transaction value of the shares..”