Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has refuted claims that the Finance Bill 2026 will impose new taxes on mobile money transfers.
Speaking on Tuesday, 26th of May, during a public participation forum at Bunge la Mwanainchi, the CS clarified that the government has no plans to increase charges on platforms like M-Pesa. Instead, Mbadi assured citizens that the upcoming tax adjustments are actually aimed at Visa card service providers.
“We are not introducing any other extra charges that are going to affect money transfer through M-Pesa. We sat down with Safaricom officials last Friday and discussed this, and they have understood it clearly”.
The Treasury CS continued to explain, “The platform that we are targeting is these card providers. I have a Cooperative Bank Visa card in my pocket. Cooperative Bank pays the owner of that Visa, and most of them are not Kenyan. The platforms don’t pay any tax to the Kenyan government, and that is what we say is not fair”.
CS Mbadi acknowledged the banking sector concerns regarding the proposal, assuring stakeholders that the procedural issues will be resolved to prevent any adverse impacts.
“There are concerns with the banks that they have already signed contracts. We told them that it is procedural and we will deal with that to ensure that no one is hurt”. Mbadi elaborated.
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The Finance Bill 2026 has elicited mixed reactions in the country. Concerned authorities have been on the frontline to demystify the bill regarding what is true and what is not. The National Assembly has refuted claims circulating on social media that the proposed Finance Bill 2026 includes provisions to tax annual land rent on freehold land.
