2026 Tax Amnesty Programme
The Tax Amnesty Programme is a relief initiative re-introduced under the Finance Act, 2026 that waives 100% of penalties, interest and fines on tax debts accrued up to 31st December 2025. The relief is subject to the settlement of the principal tax for cases where there is a principal tax.
Tax Amnesty Programme at a Glance
Following the enactment of the Finance Act 2026, the tax amnesty functionality has been activated in the iTax system to facilitate the implementation of the tax amnesty provisions under section 37E of the Tax Procedures Act.
The tax amnesty applies to penalties, interest and fines relating to tax liabilities for tax periods up to 31st December 2025 (self-assessment, amendments, additional assessment, objection and appeal decisions effected in iTax). It is effective from 1st July 2026 and will lapse on 31st December 2026. The amnesty is also available in the ecitizen web portal.
Does the Amnesty Apply to You?
Review the situations below to understand how the programme applies to your tax position.
Which tax periods does the amnesty cover?
Only tax liabilities and debts accrued on or before 31st December 2025 qualify for the amnesty.
Are post-2025 tax debts eligible?
No. Any tax liabilities, interest or penalties arising on or after 1st January 2026 strictly do not qualify. All principal taxes, penalties and interest for these periods remain fully due and payable.
I paid all my principal taxes before 31st December 2025, but still have outstanding interest and penalties. Do I need to apply for a waiver?
No application is required is such a case. You automatically qualify for a 100% waiver on the outstanding interest and penalties. The KRA system will update this automatically.
I do not owe any principal tax, but I have outstanding penalties because I filed my returns late. How do I get the relief?
You will receive an automatic waiver of the late filing penalties once you fully file all of your outstanding tax returns.
I have an ongoing tax dispute in court/at the Tax Appeals Tribunal. Can I still apply for the amnesty?
Yes. Taxpayers currently in active litigation should utilize the KRA Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework to settle their principal tax amounts. Once the principal amount is settled through ADR, the amnesty benefits will be unlocked.
Explore ADRI Currently Have Outstanding Pre-2026 Principal Taxes. How Can I Benefit from the Amnesty?
You have two options to settle the principal tax and unlock the waiver:
Lump-Sum Settlement
Pay the outstanding principal tax in full at any point during the amnesty window (1st July – 31st December 2026) to receive an immediate, instant waiver of the corresponding penalties and interest.
What is the deadline for clearing a Structured Payment Plan?
To successfully qualify for the waiver of penalties and interest, all principal taxes under your agreed payment plan must be fully cleared by 31st December 2026.
How to Set Up an Amnesty Payment Plan in iTax
Follow these steps if you need to pay the outstanding principal tax in instalments.
Log into iTax
Open the Payments menu.
Start the Plan
Select “Apply Payment Plan (new).”
Choose the Periods
Select the relevant amnesty tax period or periods.
Register Payment
Return to Payments and select “Payments Registration.”
Select Tax Details
Select the tax head, tax sub-head and the relevant tax period.
Confirm the Amount
Where necessary, edit the amount so that you pay the outstanding principal tax only.
All principal tax under the payment plan must be cleared by 31st December 2026.
A payment plan applied for in July 2026 may have a maximum of 6 instalments.
How the Amnesty Is Processed in iTax
Depending on your tax position, the amnesty may be processed in one of the following ways.
You Pay the Principal Tax in Full
Once you fully pay the outstanding principal tax for an eligible period, iTax automatically removes the qualifying penalties, interest and fines and generates your amnesty certificate.
You Have No Outstanding Principal Tax
Eligible taxpayers with no principal tax are processed automatically through scheduled iTax amnesty batches.
The first batch for qualifying taxpayers who filed nil returns or cleared their principal tax before 14th July 2026 will be processed by 24th July 2026. Thereafter, qualifying cases will be processed weekly.
You Log into Your iTax Profile
Logging into iTax prompts the system to check your eligible periods and process qualifying amnesty cases as the liabilities arise.
A KRA Officer Assists with the Process
A KRA officer may manually initiate the amnesty where it has not been processed automatically. This may apply to urgent TCC applications, refunds, PIN or obligation cancellation and other eligible cases.
What You Need to Know While Current iTax System Issues Are Being Resolved
KRA is resolving the following iTax related issues by the end of August 2026. The guidance below explains what each matter means and what an affected taxpayer should do.
Some Withholding Tax Transactions
What this means: Some qualifying withholding tax transactions may not yet be processed automatically for amnesty.
What to do: If this affects your account, contact KRA for assistance while the system solution is being completed.
Some Fines May Remain
What this means: Some manually imposed fines may not yet be removed automatically, even where the taxpayer qualifies for amnesty.
What to do: If an eligible fine remains on your account, contact KRA for review and assistance.
Check the Amount Before Paying Your PRN
What this means: When you generate a Payment Registration Number for an amnesty period, iTax may include the principal tax together with penalties, interest or fines.
What to do: Edit the amount so that you pay the outstanding principal tax only. Once the principal tax is paid, the qualifying penalties and interest will be reversed.
Penalties May Still Appear on the Payment Page
What this means: Penalties and interest may still appear on the payment registration page even after your ledger has been updated with the reversed amounts.
What to do: Check your ledger or seek assistance from KRA before paying an amount that may already have been reversed.
Missing PAYE Credits for 2013–2015
What this means: Some individual taxpayers may see employment tax liabilities because PAYE credits from the iTax transition period were not posted to their ledgers.
What to do: Contact KRA so that the affected periods and employer PAYE records can be reviewed.
Other Missing PAYE Credits
What this means: A system solution is being developed for other periods where correctly filed employer PAYE credits were not posted to employee ledgers, including some cases from November and December 2025.
What to do: Affected employers may contact their account managers or the KRA Contact Centre for case-by-case correction while the general solution is being implemented.
How to Access Your Amnesty Certificate
Once generated, your amnesty certificate will be sent to your iTax-registered email address. You can also download it from your iTax profile using the path below.
Resolve Outstanding Tax Matters Early
Taxpayers are encouraged to engage their respective tax service offices to fast track approval of their return amendments, raising of assessments and implementing tax decisions for the amnesty period assessments. This includes addressing objections, appeals, alternative dispute resolutions (ADRs) in iTax, reconciling missing payments, and following up on the resolution of any other processes that may result in incorrect principal tax liabilities. Taking these steps will help taxpayers benefit from the amnesty before 31st December, 2026.
Complete the required action within the amnesty period to qualify for the applicable relief.
