According to the East African Breweries Limited Corporate Relations Director Eric Kiniti, EABL sells a bottle of Tusker beer at 190 shillings, out of which the Kenya Revenue Authority takes 107 shillings as taxes, leaving the brewer with 83 shillings.
With 83 shillings remaining, the brewer gives 25 shillings per bottle to distributors remaining with 58 shillings to pay farmers, and employees salaries and to run the business. The shocking revelations brought to the surface the cost of doing business in Kenya.
“The equivalent of what we sell in Kenya at 190 shillings is selling at 100 shillings in Uganda and Tanzania. If you go to most of our border towns, people would rather cross over and drink either in Uganda or Tanzania than in Kenya,” he said during an interview on Spice FM.
And now that the Kenya Revenue Authority is set to increase the cost of excise stamps for beer, bottled water, juices, and any other non-alcoholic drinks, cosmetics, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and nicotine products, and export products, the pain is set to be worse.
The stamps are sold by the Kenya Revenue Authority and they allow the KRA to verify the authenticity of the marked products and indicate to the authority that the required excise tax has been paid. It has emerged that the plan to increase the costs is despite KRA still procuring the same at low prices.
Already, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has opposed the move, terming it ridiculous and one that will have massive effects on manufacturing in Kenya.
“The proposed increment up to levels of over 100 percent and beyond the current market prices of producing the stamps shall have a detrimental effect on consumers and manufacturers due to increased cost of production and the cost of finished products which will be passed on to the consumer amidst the rising cost of living,” said KAM in a statement.
Related Content: Excise Duty on Beer, Water to Increase By 6.3% From October 2022