In an effort to ease the financial burden on taxpayers, the Kenyan government introduced a Tax amnesty programme under the Finance Act of 2023. The Tax forgiveness initiative will benefit individuals and businesses struggling with penalties and interest on tax debts.
It is open to all taxpayers, including businesses, and it enables applicants to request a waiver for penalties and interest accrued up until December 31, 2022. Under this amnesty, taxpayers will only be required to pay the principal tax amount on outstanding debts.
The tax amnesty programme has been running from September 1, 2023 and will expire in a month’s time on June 30, 2024. To qualify, individuals and businesses must have cleared their principal tax liabilities, leaving only penalties and interest for the specified period.
Applying for the tax amnesty is straightforward. Taxpayers can apply through the iTax platform by accessing the Amnesty application tab under Debt and Enforcement. Alternatively, applications can be initiated via a link sent through e-mail or SMS.
How to apply for Tax Amnesty
Step 1: Using any browser, log in to ‘iTax’, then go to the ‘Debt and enforcement’ menu and select ‘iTax Amnesty Application’.
Step 2: Under the section ‘A’, select the respective Tax obligation e.g. Value Added Tax. This will populate the amnesty details for the specific obligation.
Step 3: Under section ‘B’, propose the number of instalments and instalment frequency. The system shall compute the amount per instalment. Click to agree to the terms and conditions and ‘Submit’ to complete the process.
Step 4: ‘Click’ to agree to the terms and conditions and submit. The iTax system will generate an amnesty application acknowledgement with amnesty and payment plan details.
Step 5: Generate payment slips for respective tax obligation and tax period through iTax and proceed to pay bank transfer or M-pesa Pay bill 222222.
Step 6: Once payment has been received, the iTax system shall vacate respective penalties and interest for the period and issue an amnesty certificate.
The KRA tax amnesty programme is a limited time offer and the expiration date is nearing. If you have outstanding tax issues, now is the time to act. Visit the KRA website or your nearest office for more information.
If you’ve any queries, contact KRA on social media on X at KRA Care or Facebook at Kenya Revenue Authority. You can also reach them by phone at +254 20 4 999 999 or +254 711 099 999, or via email at [email protected].
