The contentious Finance Bill, 2024 has sailed through the Second Reading in the National Assembly after 204 Members of Parliament voted to pass it.

Speaker Moses Wetangula, in the Thursday evening voting session, announced that 115 MPs voted in opposition of the Bill. Speaker Wetangula further announced that no legislator abstained from the voting. During this stage, amendments to the Bill will be introduced, and the House will vote on each clause. Following this, the Bill will undergo a Third Reading, where the House will take a final vote to either approve or reject it. If there are disagreements on the Bill or any proposed amendments, it will be referred to a mediation committee. The committee will work to develop a version of the Bill that the House can consider and vote on. The House will then debate and vote on the mediated version of the Bill. Among the amendments unveiled are adjustments to excise duties on mobile money transfers, reducing them from 20 per cent to 15 per cent, and the elimination of 16 per cent VAT on financial services and foreign exchange transactions, aimed at easing financial burdens on consumers. In a move to protect local industries, the committee has recommended imposing excise duties on imported onions and potatoes while removing such levies on imported eggs.  Notably, the committee has also scrapped the 16 per cent VAT on bread, although the categorisation of bread under tax schedules remains unresolved.