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Rethink new tax on creative industry
The government should remove withholding tax on advertising, marketing and creative services in the 2026/2027 Finance Bill, or at the very least suspend it until a functional, time-bound refund system is in place.
A policy introduced to improve tax compliance in 2023 is now doing the opposite.
The five percent withholding tax on advertising, marketing and creative services is steadily choking Kenya’s creative economy. What was intended as a revenue assurance mechanism has instead triggered a chain reaction across the industry: shrinking cash flows, delayed payments, wage stagnation, layoffs and reduced investment in innovation.
