Kenyans with old tax debts have until the end of December to take advantage of a Kenya Revenue Authority programme offering a 100% waiver of qualifying penalties, interest and fines.
But there is a catch that could cost taxpayers who misunderstand the offer.
The government is not generally cancelling the underlying tax.
KRA says the 2026 Tax Amnesty Programme runs from July 1 to December 31, 2026 and applies to qualifying liabilities relating to periods up to December 31, 2025.
For someone who owes principal tax, that principal must be fully paid by December 31 to obtain the full benefit.
Consider a simplified example.
If a taxpayer owes Sh100,000 in principal tax plus accumulated qualifying penalties and interest, the amnesty can remove the penalties and interest if the taxpayer satisfies the statutory conditions.
It does not automatically erase the Sh100,000.
People who cannot pay their qualifying principal tax in one instalment can apply for a payment plan through iTax.
But the deadline still matters.
KRA says the principal amount covered by the arrangement must be fully cleared by December 31, 2026 for the taxpayer to qualify for the corresponding amnesty.
There are other scenarios.
A taxpayer who has already cleared all qualifying principal tax but still has outstanding interest, penalties or fines may qualify automatically.
Someone who failed to file older returns can also benefit. KRA says outstanding returns for periods up to December 31, 2025 should be filed during the amnesty period.
If those returns have no principal tax due, qualifying late-filing penalties can be waived automatically.
What about debts from 2026?
They are different.
KRA explicitly says liabilities arising from January 1, 2026 onwards do not fall under this amnesty.
Taxpayers with disputes are not necessarily excluded either.
KRA says people with cases in court or before the Tax Appeals Tribunal can use the Alternative Dispute Resolution framework to resolve the principal amount. Amnesty benefits can then apply if the qualifying principal tax is settled within the deadline.
One area generating particular interest is tax compliance.
For businesses, a Tax Compliance Certificate can be important when bidding for contracts or dealing with institutions that require evidence of KRA compliance.
KRA's guidance says its systems can manually process qualifying cases requiring urgent TCCs where outstanding liabilities relate to penalties, interest and fines within the amnesty period.
Taxpayers should therefore avoid assuming that simply joining a payment plan automatically eliminates every liability.
The safest approach is to inspect the iTax ledger, identify the tax periods involved, distinguish principal tax from penalties and interest and confirm what needs to be paid before the deadline.
KRA says an amnesty certificate is generated once the qualifying conditions are met and can be accessed through iTax.
The most important date is straightforward:
December 31, 2026.
Any qualifying principal tax that must be paid to unlock the amnesty needs to be cleared by then.
Category: Business
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