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TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto has over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting, offering insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced a significant change to the individual income tax return filing deadline following amendments introduced by the Finance Act 2026.
The act amended Section 52B(1) of the Income Tax Act, moving the deadline from June 30 to April 30, meaning individual taxpayers will now be required to file their returns by the last day of the fourth month following the year of income.
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KRA commissioner for micro and small taxpayers George Obel explained the process that will accompany the new deadline, saying the authority will begin distributing pre-populated tax data to all taxpayers at the start of each year.
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The commissioner said the data will be drawn from multiple sources, including eTIMS invoices, withholding tax certificates, customs records, and third-party data, giving taxpayers a comprehensive picture of their financial activity before they begin filing.
Under the new framework, KRA will introduce a dual assessment model that grants taxpayers the opportunity to review what the authority has generated on their behalf.
Rather than filing from scratch, individuals will be able to compare their own records against the pre-populated information and raise any discrepancies before finalising their returns.
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The move is intended to streamline the filing process, reduce errors, and improve compliance by giving Kenyans more time to reconcile their data while simultaneously closing the window for late submissions.
The change tightens the tax calendar by two months and is expected to have implications for millions of individual taxpayers, businesses handling withholding tax certificates, and third parties whose data feeds into the KRA system.
In other news, we also highlighted facts about KRA’s warning to multinational companies over new Minimum Top-Up Tax compliance requirements.
Covered companies must notify KRA of their status by November 30, 2026.
The tax framework brings Kenya into line with international rules for large multinational groups. Companies that miss the deadline risk non-compliance as KRA prepares to enforce the new obligations.
Japhet Ruto (Current Affairs and Business Editor) Japhet Ruto, an award-winning journalist, is a Business & Tech Editor at TUKO.co.ke (joined in 2019). Ruto has over nine years' experience and graduated from Moi University in 2015 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Journalism. He won the 2019 BAKE Awards’ Agriculture Blog of the Year. . Best CA editor 2019-2022. Best TUKO business editor 2023-2026.
Attended the 2026 immersion training on customs and trade facilitation for digital and mainstream media. Email: [email protected].
