- Parliament passes the Finance Bill 2025 in full
- KRA denied powers to access personal bank and mobile data
- Proposed Ksh 5M account surveillance rule also rejected
- New Bill targets Ksh 24B in revenue—lowest in 3 years
- Now awaits President Ruto’s signature
Kenya’s National Assembly has officially passed the Finance Bill 2025, marking a major step in the government’s efforts to raise funds for the upcoming financial year. The approval happened on Thursday, June 19, during an afternoon session that followed the final debate and amendments concluded on Wednesday night.
With this green light, the Bill now moves to President William Ruto for assent, after which it will become law and guide revenue collection for the 2025/26 budget.
MPs Delete KRA’s Personal Data Access Clause
One of the most controversial proposals—to give the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) unlimited access to bank and digital money records—was removed completely. Members of Parliament backed the Finance and Planning Committee’s recommendation to delete it, citing constitutional concerns over privacy.
“We rejected the proposal because it goes against Article 31 of the Constitution, which protects the right to personal privacy.”
said Kimani Kuria, the committee chairperson.
Parliament also threw out a Ksh 5 million threshold that would have allowed account surveillance for large deposits and transactions. MPs warned that such a move could backfire and give room for tax evasion and poor enforcement.
The Finance Bill 2025 is now projected to raise just Ksh 24 billion, way below the Ksh 30 billion target by the National Treasury. This figure makes it the least ambitious finance bill in three years in terms of revenue collection.
Kuria broke down previous numbers to give context:
“The 2022 Finance Act raised Ksh 22B, in 2023 we saw Ksh 211B, the failed 2024 bill aimed for Ksh 344B, and the Tax Laws Amendments collected Ksh 49 B. This year, it’s just 24B.”
The toned-down clauses and lower tax expectations are being seen as a direct response to public outrage and national protests, especially following the fallout from the highly unpopular Finance Bill 2024 that had to be shelved after legal and street opposition.
President Ruto to Decide What Happens Next
With Parliament’s job done, all eyes now turn to President William Ruto, who has the final say. Once signed into law, the Bill will form a critical piece of Kenya’s Ksh 3.316 trillion budget for the 2025/26 financial year.
What remains to be seen is whether this calmer, revised version will calm the country or spark new concerns among taxpayers.
