Every Kenyan who has acquired a national identity card is mandated by law to pay tax. After paying tax, either directly or indirectly, one is required to file their tax returns to show that they are law abiding citizens. The Kenya Revenue Authority, KRA, is the body mandated with the role of ensuring every Kenyan pays tax as needed. They also collect tax onnbehalf of the government of Kenya.
In order to ensure Kenyans file their tax returns, the KRA has set out guidelines and steps of filing returns online. The tax returns are filed every year nefore the end of June. KRA has come up with the iTax system that is an online platform where every Kenyan can do their tax returns.
Here are the gudelines of filing tax online,
The guidelines of filing KRA returns is common and same for all type of returns. There are income tax for an individual, income tax for corporates, or filing VAT returns. The difference only comes in in terms of details one is needed to fill in.
- Go to the iTax filing portal using https://itax.kra.go.ke/KRA-Portal/
- Login to iTAX portal with PIN and password.
- Click on ‘e-Returns’ or select ‘Returns’ from the navigation menu and click on ‘File Returns’.
- Select the Type, Enter your taxpayer’s PIN and select the Tax obligation applicable to you and click ‘Next’.
- A relevant tax form will open depending on the type of tax.
- This page will take you through the filling process and will have detailed instructions to file tax returns.
- The instruction will also have links to download the tax returns form in Excel or ODS format. Click the relevant link to download the template and save it on your computer.
- Fill all applicable areas in the downloaded tax returns form and save your document on your computer.
- Make sure you enable macros to be able to ‘Validate’ and Zip your File.
- Go to the iTax tax return filing page and select the period for which you are filing the returns.
- Upload the zip file and agree to the terms and conditions by ticking the checkbox.
- Click ‘Submit’ button to upload the returns and click ‘OK’ for the pop-up message ‘Do you want to upload the form’
Failing to file tax returns, one is risking and it attracts various penalties that can even lead to arrest and possible jail term.
