An essential part of economic freedom is freedom to choose how to use our income: how much to spend on ourselves and on what items; how much to save and in what form; how much to give away and to whom. Currently, more than 40 percent of out income is disposed of on our behalf by government. That means you work for the government 146 days out of the 365 days in a year; 3.20hrs a day out of the 8hrs that you are at work daily.
The sad thing is: the government gets its share before you get your share.
Isn’t it sad that you do not have control of 40% of your income? You do not have a say about where & what the government will your money for.
To make matters worse, you do not have total freedom on how, where and what you can spend the rest of 60% of your income. Your after-tax income is taxed further when you make a purchase (16% on most items, higher for some items).
As consumers, we are not even free to choose how to spend the part of our income that is left after taxes. We are not free to buy weapons, drugs etc. Our doctor is not free to prescribe many drugs for us that he may regard as the most effective for our ailments, even though the drugs may be widely available abroad. We are not free to buy an old automobile (more than 8yrs old).
Another essential part of economic freedom is freedom to use the resources we possess in accordance with our own values – freedom to enter any occupation, engage in any business enterprise, buy from and sell to anyone else, so long as we do so on a strictly voluntary basis and do not resort to force in order to coerce others.
Currently corporate income tax in Kenya is 40%. The government is entitled to 40 cents for every Shilling of profit. That simply means that the government owns 40% of every corporation in Kenya.
Do we have economic freedom?
Have we allowed the government to own us?
Are the services provided by the government comparable to the amount of taxes that we are forced to pay the government?
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