Relief for Salaried Kenyans as KRA Simplifies Tax Returns Filing

Salaried Kenyans have received welcome news after the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) announced major changes to how annual income tax returns will now be filed. The new system promises to make the process faster, easier, and less stressful for workers across the country.

According to KRA, salaried employees will no longer have to manually enter details from their P9 forms when declaring their yearly income. Instead, workers will simply log into the iTax system and key in their National Identification (ID) number.

The system will then automatically retrieve and fill in all the necessary income tax data for that financial year.

This automatic update means the iTax system will capture important details such as gross income, statutory deductions, and other tax-related information without the taxpayer having to type in the figures.

Previously, many Kenyans often struggled with manually inputting this data, a process that sometimes led to mistakes and delays in filing returns.

KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattang’a explained that the new development is part of a broader plan to digitise and integrate the Authority’s systems with other government databases.

He noted that data is now one of the most valuable assets and should be shared across systems to eliminate duplication and improve efficiency.

“Data has become our greatest asset. We want to ensure our systems are well connected so that they don’t operate in isolation.

For example, we are working to integrate with business registration systems and citizen registration platforms so that we can prepopulate taxpayer details automatically,” Wattang’a said.

He further explained that this innovation is not just about convenience for salaried workers but is part of KRA’s larger strategy to make tax compliance easier for both individuals and businesses in Kenya.

By leveraging technology and digital systems, the Authority hopes to reduce the challenges that taxpayers have faced for years while also boosting compliance rates.

“Our strategy and digitisation journey are shaped by the progress we are making in collaboration with other government agencies. These partnerships help us develop smarter ways of serving taxpayers,” he added.

In Kenya, every salaried individual is legally required to file an annual income tax return, regardless of whether they have additional sources of income. An income tax return serves as a declaration of the income earned within a given financial year.

Furthermore, anyone with a KRA Personal Identification Number (PIN) must file returns every year, whether or not they were employed or earned any income.

The update comes just weeks after KRA officially closed its iTax portal for taxpayers who were submitting returns for the 2024 fiscal year. With this new simplified process, the Authority hopes that more Kenyans will be encouraged to file their returns on time, avoiding unnecessary penalties.

This change marks a significant milestone in Kenya’s tax system, promising relief for thousands of salaried workers who previously spent hours struggling with the iTax portal.

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