Millions of Kenyan taxpayers will soon have to submit their income tax returns two months earlier after a new law introduced separate filing deadlines for individuals and businesses, ending the long-standing practice where all taxpayers filed by June 30.
The change is contained in the Finance Act 2026 signed by President William Ruto on Tuesday and will take effect from January 1, 2027. The new system is expected to spread out tax return submissions throughout the year and reduce the pressure that often builds up as the June deadline approaches.
Under the revised law, individual taxpayers will be required to file their income tax returns by the last day of the fourth month after the end of their year of income. For most individuals whose year of income ends on December 31, the filing deadline will now be April 30.
Businesses and other entities that are not classified as individuals will continue to file their returns by the last day of the sixth month after the end of their accounting period, effectively retaining the June 30 deadline in many cases.
“Every individual, chargeable to tax under this Act, shall furnish the commissioner a return of income, including self-assessment of their tax from all sources of income, not later than the last day of the fourth month following the end of their year of income”, the Finance Act 2026 states in its amendment to Section 52B of the Income Tax Act.
“Every person, other than an individual chargeable to tax, shall for any accounting period furnish to the Commissioner a return of income, including a self-assessment of tax on such income not later than the last day of the sixth month following the end of the accounting period,” Finance Act 2026 further states.
The revised timelines will largely affect workers under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system, who make up one of the biggest groups of taxpayers in the country and contribute a substantial share of government revenue.
The National Treasury says the adjustment is intended to improve tax administration by giving the Kenya Revenue Authority enough time to verify information submitted by taxpayers before the end of the financial year.
The move also comes after KRA introduced income and expense validation beginning January 1, 2026, allowing taxpayer information to be captured and pre-filled in advance.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the new arrangement would help avoid the last-minute rush that has traditionally marked the tax return filing season.
“We are talking about filing returns for the previous financial year. The income tax that Kenyans are now filing returns on refers to the year of income ended December 31, 2025, which refers to what was earned until the end of December last year. So, we are saying that for individuals, you will have January, February, March and April to file. This will mean we don’t wait until towards June, and that’s when everybody is trying to file, and KRA has no time to check on the accuracy of what has been filed,” National Treasury CS, John Mbadi, says.
The changes come after technical difficulties disrupted tax return filing during the 2024/25 financial year, forcing KRA to push the June 30 deadline to July 5 after many taxpayers were unable to access the system in time.
Economists say separating filing dates for different categories of taxpayers could help reduce pressure on KRA's systems while making it easier to process returns throughout the year.
“This will help tier Kenya’s taxpayers and ease the administrative burden and system congestion that typically happens in June,” NCBA Group’s Economic Research desk states in a note to investors.
The phased filing framework places Kenya among countries that have adopted staggered tax return schedules, including South Africa, where taxpayers submit returns under different timelines depending on their category.