Kenya Looking at Levying 3% Tax on Crypto Transactions

Kenya crypto tax: Kenya is one of the top countries that own digital assets such as crypto and NFTs surprisingly it has been ranked above some of the developed countries like the USA which has been ranked sixth. Out of its total population of 4.25 million people, 8.5 percent of Kenya’s total population own and trade cryptocurrency and approx 12.4 percent of Kenyans aged between 16 and 64 own some form of crypto. Since a large population of Kenya is in some other way associated with crypto hence any news regarding crypto is going to disturb the crypto market.

What is Mentioned in the Proposed bill?

Kenya is considering a digital asset tax as per this tax cryptocurrency and NFTs will be eligible for a 3% tax on transfers and 15% on monetized online content. Till now the bill has received a mixed reaction from the public some people are seeing it as a way of recognizing cryptocurrency and others are considering it a targeted harassment on the crypto market. This article will provide you with an overview of the proposed bill and its impact on the crypto market.

This bill was introduced in the Kenyan parliament on 4 May 2023 this bill has to go through 5 rounds of readings, If passed by the national assembly then after the final approval of the president this bill will become law. According to this law cryptocurrency transactions will be charged a 3% tax on the total earning and other digital content creators will have to give 15% of their earnings paid to them to promote and advertise online products and services to the government as a form of tax.

Impact on Crypto Currency and Community Reaction

Kenya crypto tax decision of the government has sparked concern in the crypto community of Kenya. Because this tax can become a hurdle for the growing popularity of cryptocurrency in the country as it can impact a decreased number of cryptocurrency users in the country as young users will hesitate to invest in crypto because now they will have to pay an extra 2% tax on cryptocurrency transactions. However, this news will impact the prices of cryptocurrency more once it is passed by the parliament.

The public of Kenya has proposed a mixed reaction to the issue. The optimistic ones are considering it a good step towards recognizing the legitimacy of crypto and NFTs They consider that it has decreased the chances of cryptocurrency from banning from the country while others are seeing it as harassment of the industry as they will have to now give 3% of every transaction to the government as a tax they think this will discourage the use of crypto and new people will not adopt as earlier because of the extra tax that has been levied by the government