Kenya Proposes Removing Financial Data Privacy Protection in 2025 Finance Bill

The Kenyan government is seeking to repeal a legal provision that protects personal and customer financial data from taxman, potentially giving the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) much powers to access sensitive information.

In the 2025 Finance Bill, the National Treasury has proposed the deletion of Section 59A(1B) of the Tax Procedures Act—a clause introduced just months ago in December 2024 to safeguard trade secrets and personal data collected by businesses.

“Section 59A of the Tax Procedures Act is amended by deleting subsection (1B),” reads the proposed amendment.

The clause currently shields businesses from being compelled by KRA to share customer data, private information, or trade secrets.

Its removal would allow the tax authority to demand access to mobile money records, bank transactions, and other financial data without the current legal restrictions.

If passed, the change would shift how Kenya approaches data privacy, raising fresh concerns over the balance between tax enforcement and citizens’ privacy rights.

Also Read: Cabinet Approves 2025 Finance Bill Amid Push for Fiscal Discipline

Renewed Push for Data Access

This is not the first time the government has sought to expand KRA’s reach. In the 2024 Finance Bill, the Treasury had proposed amending the Data Protection Act, 2019 to allow KRA unrestricted access to data held by banks, telecom firms, utilities, schools, land registries, and agencies like the NTSA—without a court warrant.

That proposal was widely rejected. The National Assembly Finance Committee cited Section 51 of the Data Protection Act, which provides strict conditions for exemptions. It also noted that Section 60 of the Tax Procedures Act already permits KRA to access data—with a court-issued warrant.

The earlier attempt triggered strong pushback from civil society groups, including the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Amnesty International Kenya, which termed the move unconstitutional. Nationwide protests, largely led by youth, erupted in opposition to the proposal, eventually forcing the government to abandon it.

Now, under Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, the government appears to be pursuing the same objective through a more targeted strategy—removing privacy protections via the Tax Procedures Act, rather than altering the Data Protection Act directly.

While the Treasury argues that the 2025 Finance Bill aims to seal tax loopholes and broaden the tax base through administrative reforms, the move to scrap Section 59A(1B) could reshape how KRA interacts with private financial data.

Critics warn that such a move could reignite legal and public opposition, especially amid growing concerns about state overreach, data privacy, and digital surveillance.