Filing income tax returns in Kenya is set for a major shift after the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) announced plans to scrap the long-used Excel return forms and introduce a web-based filing system, a move expected to make compliance easier while supporting new filing deadlines introduced under the Finance Act 2026.
The tax authority says taxpayers will no longer need to download and complete Excel templates before uploading them to the system. Instead, returns will be submitted directly through an online platform using an internet browser, with the new system expected to be rolled out during 2027.
The planned changes come after the Finance Act 2026 amended Section 52 of the Income Tax Act to introduce separate deadlines for filing income tax returns.
Under the new law, natural persons will be required to submit their returns by the end of the fourth month after the close of their year of income, while non-natural persons will have until the end of the sixth month after the close of their year of income.
Beginning January 1, 2027, most employees whose income year ends in December will therefore be expected to file their returns by April 30, while companies will continue filing by June 30.
According to KRA, the move to stagger filing dates will be supported by improvements to its digital systems to avoid congestion that has previously been experienced during the annual filing period.
“We have staggered returns in Finance Act 2026 so that individual returns will be due by April 30 and the non-natural persons’ returns will be due by June 30. Are we transferring the problem we had in June to April? Absolutely not because there are other things we are doing to ensure the system will be stable," KRA’s Chief Manager in charge of Policy and Tax, Josephine Mugure, said at a townhall convened by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAK).
“The first thing is that we are introducing web-based returns so that we will not require taxpayers to fill the Excel file any more. It will be webbased and significantly simplified," Mugure said.
The planned online filing platform is one of several digital reforms KRA is introducing to improve tax administration and strengthen compliance across the country.
Earlier this year, on April 1, 2026, the authority rolled out income tax return filing through WhatsApp for taxpayers with less complicated returns.
KRA now plans to broaden the service so that more taxpayers, including those with more detailed returns, can file through the messaging platform.
The expansion will also involve improving the capabilities of KRA's Artificial Intelligence-powered virtual assistant, Shuru, to enable it to handle more taxpayer services.
“We want to expand what filing Kenyans will be able to do via WhatsApp so that it won’t just be what we have had for employees," Mugure said.
"We will expand it such that you will be able to file a whole range of returns via WhatsApp. In 2027, Shuru will have been here for more than six months and whatever teething problems she encountered this year will have been resolved and she will be of better use.”
The digital reforms build on the Income and Expenses Validation system that came into effect on January 1, 2026 to prepare for automatic generation of income tax returns.
The Finance Act 2026 has since amended Section 75 of the Tax Procedures Act, giving KRA legal authority to generate auto-populated income tax returns using information from ICT systems, including eTIMS invoices, withholding tax certificates, customs records and third-party data.