The ministry of Lands, Housing, public Works, and Urban Development, has gazzetted another set of tax laws by proposing to increase charges for land transactions.
The Cabinet Secretary of Lands, Alice Wahome in a gazette notice has proposed changes to three acts of parliament, among others, amend the existing statutory instruments that have not been updated for a long time, especially in respect of fees and charges prescribed for various services rendered by the government in the land sector.
The proposed changes will double land rates include an increase to 2,000 shillings for official land searches.
Registration of land documents will now be Ksh1,500, while corporation certificates in the land ownership process will cost another Ksh1,500.
The fees for the incorporation of a trust have also been increased to Ksh.50,000. Similar transactions previously cost, Ksh5,000.
The new proposal also states that application for certified copies of the proceedings arising from the determination of the land registrar or chief land registrar will now cost Ksh.3,000 for the first 10 pages and Ksh.100 for each additional page in the new proposed changes.
Resubmission for registration of any document in land transactions will cost you Ksh.1,500, while correction of a name not occasioned by the registrar will be charged at Ksh.2,500.
Kenyans will now pay Ksh.5,000 to ascertain their boundaries in disputes. To have the boundary fixed, one will pay Ksh.5,000 if the proposed changes sail through.
For placement of caution, the lands ministry proposes to increase payments to Ksh.3,000
In the proposed changes, to have any officer of the registry attend a place outside the registration office for more than a day, Kenyans will pay Ksh.5,000 plus transport as per the rates.
This amount applies to professional advice on any registration matters by the land registrar if the proposals go through.
According to CS Wahome the prescribed fees have not been changed for thirty year thus the need to balance service-delivery and the cost of providing services.
