Updated Fri, May 13th 2016 at 00:00 GMT +3MPs yesterday rejected the push to scrap the 16 per cent value-added tax imposed on textbooks three years ago. Mr Waweru had told MPs that the tax made books very expensive and discouraged many people from reading, and that even university scholars were not publishing extensively. They told a petitioner, book collector Njoroge Waweru, that they were unlikely to yield to his petition seeking an amendment to the VAT Act, to scrap the 16 per cent tax. They all come saying they want books zero-rated so that they can claim tax refunds on input. "The publishers do not want books to be exempted, because, that means they will not get anything back from the taxes they pay on paper and ink.

Source: Standard Digital May 12, 2016 15:37 UTC