The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has introduced critical upgrades to its iTax platform, allowing businesses to easily claim legitimate expenses even when they lack formal eTIMS invoices. The tax authority rolled out these changes following a scheduled system maintenance window, intending to streamline tax filing for enterprises that navigate a mix of formal and informal supply chains.
KRA’s Electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS) mandates digital invoicing to heighten transparency, stamp out tax evasion, and create a verifiable digital audit trail. Despite these strict digital requirements, the authority recognizes that many everyday business transactions still happen completely outside the formal system. Enterprise owners routinely spend money on informal services, such as buying goods from small-scale farmers and roadside vendors, paying matatu fares, or purchasing supplies from Jua Kali artisans, which previously created record-keeping hurdles.
Because many small-scale traders remain unregistered or lack the tools to issue electronic receipts, these informal transactions often bypass the eTIMS framework entirely. Previously, this operational gap blocked businesses from claiming valid deductions, complicating their tax filing process.
“Two significant enhancements were deployed on iTax this past Sunday, and understanding them could save you time, frustration, and potentially money during this filing period,” read KRA’s X post dated May 19, 2026, in part.
The updated iTax system upgrades the existing Manual Non-eTIMS CSV upload feature. Taxpayers can now declare these informal expenses by uploading structured CSV files. To prevent filing delays, the system processes these claims instantly upon upload without requiring prior approval from tax officers. Additionally, built-in automated error detection scans the documents immediately, flagging incorrect entries and guiding users through the required fixes.
Crucially, the upgrade makes the supplier’s PIN field completely optional. Previously, the platform forced taxpayers to provide a PIN for every single expense entry—a requirement that proved impossible when dealing with informal traders. This strategic adjustment allows businesses to write off valid expenses even without a supplier’s PIN, though the system will still authenticate any PINs that users do provide. By implementing this change, the authority hopes to boost tax compliance without locking out transactions from the informal sector.
The rollout followed a brief iTax maintenance closure executed between Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 10:00 pm and Monday, May 18, 2026, at 2:00 am. KRA framed the upgrade as a vital piece of its ongoing system optimization drive ahead of the June 30 tax filing deadline, explicitly designing the exercise to patch system stability and polish the overall user experience.
Key System Updates Overview
To stay ahead of the upcoming deadline, taxpayers should keep these integrated system features in mind:
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Optional Supplier PINs: Businesses can now log informal expenses without needing a registered PIN from the vendor.
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Automated Cross-Checking: iTax instantly vets income and expense declarations against eTIMS logs, withholding tax data, and customs records.
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Audit Risk: The system will automatically disallow unsupported expenses, which could trigger immediate penalties or deeper tax audits.
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Updated Templates: The revised Manual Non-eTIMS feature is now fully operational within the updated IT1 and IT2C forms, allowing users to attach supporting documents seamlessly.
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