KRA Moves Individual Tax Filing Deadline to April 30

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has moved the deadline for filing individual income tax returns from June 30 to April 30, with the new timeline taking effect on January 1, 2027.

The change, introduced under the Finance Act 2026, means individuals will be required to submit their returns for the 2026 year of income by April 30, 2027, instead of the previous June 30 deadline.

In an update, KRA said individual taxpayers would be required to file their income tax returns by the last day of the fourth month after the end of the year of income.

Since individual taxpayers operate on a calendar-year basis, the filing deadline will fall on April 30.

The revised timeline affects individual taxpayers, including salaried employees, self-employed persons and partnerships.

The authority has urged taxpayers to familiarise themselves with the new filing calendar and begin preparing their records early to avoid missing the deadline.

KRA has advised taxpayers to confirm their employment, business and withholding tax information, maintain proper records and review their returns before submission.

The change is part of wider amendments to tax administration introduced through the Finance Act 2026.

Under the revised framework, companies and other non-individual taxpayers will continue filing their returns by the last day of the sixth month after the end of their accounting period.

For companies whose accounting year ends in December, the filing deadline therefore remains June 30.

The new arrangement replaces the long-standing June 30 deadline for individual taxpayers and is expected to spread filing activity across different periods, easing pressure on KRA’s online filing platform.

Taxpayers who fail to meet the applicable deadlines risk penalties under existing tax laws.

The first returns affected by the new individual filing calendar will be those covering income earned between January and December 2026.

Kenyans are therefore expected to adjust their tax compliance schedules ahead of the January 2027 implementation date.