Prices of cooking oil, mobile phones, diapers to go up as EAC gazettes new taxes

The East African Community (EAC) has published a gazette notice itemizing the approved measures on import duty rates in the EAC External Tariff (EAC CET) on its website.

Kenya has imposed a 10% import duty on crude palm oil which means the price of cooking fat and margarine for the next year.

Other refined oils which have been slapped with higher taxes are; Refined soybean oil, RDB Palm Olein, Sunflower oil, and refined corn oil which Kenya has imposed a duty rate of 25% for one year.

Baby Diapers have been lined up for increased taxation; as Kenya and other EAC members decided to apply a duty rate of 35% for one year a 10% rise from the previous tax rate.

As for mobile phones, Kenya has also imposed a duty rate of 25% for one year which as expected, will have the net effect of an increase in prices of mobile phones.

Television sets will now apply a duty rate of 35% up from 25% last year.

The gazette notice is a culmination of deliberations by member states and is not tied to the controversial Finance Bill in Kenya. The 131-page document is currently on the front page of the EAC website.

The timing of the notice comes at a dicey time when the Kenyan government which dropped its controversial Finance Bill after intense protests led by the youth.