2026 Tax Amnesty Programme at a Glance

 

2026 Tax Amnesty Programme

2026 Tax Amnesty Programme

100% waiver of penalties, interest and fines on qualifying tax debts

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.

Amnesty Closes
31st December 2026
 
Qualifying Period
Tax liabilities and debts accrued on or before 31st December 2025
Programme at a Glance

What You Need to Know

Amnesty Opens
1st July 2026
Amnesty Closes
31st December 2026
Tax Periods Covered
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.
Eligibility Scenarios

Does Amnesty Apply to You?

Find the situation that best reflects your tax position.

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 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.

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.

Outstanding Principal Tax

Two Ways to Settle Your Principal Tax

You have two options to settle the principal tax and unlock the waiver:

1

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.

2

Structured Payment Plan

Apply for a payment plan through the KRA iTax Portal.

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.

iTax Payment Arrangement

How to Set Up an Amnesty Payment Plan in iTax

Taxpayers who need to set up payment arrangements should continue to use the existing payment plan feature in iTax.

1
Log in to iTax.
2
Open the Payments menu and select Apply Payment Plan (new).
3
Choose the relevant amnesty period(s) when creating your payment plan.
4
To generate payments, go to Payments and select Payments Registration.
5
Select the appropriate tax head, sub-head and tax period. Where necessary, adjust the payment amount for partial payments or when removing penalties, fines and interest related to the principal tax owed.
6
The payment plan for the amnesty periods should only apply up to 31st December 2026, with a maximum of 6 instalments if applied in July 2026 to qualify for the amnesty.
Frequently Asked Questions

Tax Amnesty FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Tax Amnesty on Interest and Penalties for periods up to 31st December 2025

Dated: 21st July 2026
Basics and Eligibility
1. What is tax amnesty?
Tax amnesty is the pardon and vacation of accrued interest, penalties and fines upon meeting certain given conditions.
The Finance Act, 2026 amended Section 37E of the Tax Procedures Act, CAP 469B by extending the period qualifying for tax amnesty to 31st December 2025.
2. Do I qualify for the tax amnesty?

A person qualifies for the tax amnesty on interest, penalties and fines where the person -

  • Has no principal taxes owed but there are interest, penalties and fines for periods up to 31st December 2025, or
  • Has principal taxes owed for periods up to 31st December 2025 and fully pays the outstanding principal taxes by 31st December 2026.
3. How long will Tax Amnesty run?
The Tax amnesty commenced on 1st July 2026 and shall run up to 31st December 2026.
4. Am I required to apply for the tax amnesty?
Where you have paid all the principal taxes that were due by 31st December 2025, you will be entitled to automatic waiver of the interest, penalties and fines related to that period and will not be required to make an amnesty application.
Where you have not paid all the principal taxes accrued up to 31st December 2025, upon full payment (on or before 31st December 2026, you shall automatically be granted the amnesty,
Where you have not paid all the principal taxes accrued up to 31st December 2025 and are unable to make a one off payment, you shall apply to the Commissioner for an amnesty of interest, penalties or fines on the unpaid tax, and propose a payment plan for the outstanding principal taxes. You shall automatically qualify for amnesty for the periods fully paid.
Where you have not filed returns relating to the amnesty period (up to 31st December 2025), you shall upon filing the missing returns within the amnesty period, be automatically granted the amnesty on late filing penalties as long as you have no principal taxes due.
Applications, Payment Plans and Obligations
5. How can I apply for Tax Amnesty payment plan?
Log into your iTax page and going to Amnesty application tab under Debt and Enforcement and making the application.
Click on the link shared through your Email/SMS which will re-direct you to your iTax page to make the application.
Visit the nearest Tax Service Office (TSO) or KRA help desk at Huduma Centre for assistance on the application process.
Amnesty will be granted only for principal taxes paid in full before 31st December 2026. Any amount that remains unpaid after 31st December 2026, shall attract interest and penalties for which no amnesty shall be granted.
7. What happens to Interest, and Penalties accrued for periods from 1st January 2026?
Waivers for penalty and interest on grounds other than system error or wrong obligation ended on 1st July 2025. The tax amnesty program only waives penalties, interest, and fines for pre-2026 tax debts. Any interest, penalties and fines accrued for periods from 1st January 2026 are payable in full, except where they qualify for waiver as a system error or wrong obligation.
8. Do all tax obligations qualify for amnesty?
The amnesty only covers interest, penalties and fines imposed under a tax law as per the Tax Procedures Act, CAP 469B.
Customs duties administered under the East Africa Community Customs Management Act (EACCMA) do not qualify for amnesty.
9. Is there any evidence to be attached when applying for amnesty?
No evidence is required to be attached.
Once the taxpayer accepts our terms and conditions in the online payment plan application form, they will be committing to pay the outstanding tax debt by 31st December 2026 in order to enjoy the amnesty.
Disputes, Confirmation and Compliance
10. How do we deal with debts that we don’t agree with for periods before 31st December 2025?
When generating a PRN for payment or when making the amnesty payment plan application, only select the periods with debt you agree with and leave out the debts in dispute for resolution.
Immediately follow up with your respective Tax Service Office to have the debts in dispute fully resolved. After reconciliation, proceed and pay the outstanding principal amounts if any within the amnesty period.
To hasten the reconciliation process, submit to the debt officer all necessary documents required to validate the debt as soon as possible to avoid missing out on the amnesty.
For a taxpayer with overpayments in their ledger that they wish to utilise to pay the debts, they should make an application through the refund application tab on their iTax page which will go through verification and subsequent generation of a voucher once approved.
For taxpayers with legacy credits, they should make a manual application for utilisation of their legacy credits, subject to verification and approval, to clear their outstanding debts.
11. How will I know that amnesty has been given?
Your ledger will be credited with an amount equal to the penalties, interest and fines accrued if you have no outstanding principal taxes or upon payment of any outstanding principal taxes in full.
You will get an amnesty certificate through your iTax registered email address.
12. What will happen if I don’t take up the amnesty or if I fail to honour the terms and conditions of the tax amnesty by 31st December 2026?
Interest and penalties on unpaid principal tax or unfiled returns keep accruing throughout the amnesty period - they are not paused. Once the amnesty closes on 31st December 2026, the accrued amount becomes fully recoverable and enforcement measures under the law will apply.
13. I have not been filing returns if I file now, can I benefit from Amnesty?
Yes, you will qualify for the amnesty for penalties and interest relating to tax debts, including late filing penalties, for periods up to 31st December 2025. Any penalties and interest accruing from 1st January 2026 shall however be payable.
14. Will I qualify for amnesty if I have objected to an assessment or I am undergoing other dispute resolution process?
Yes, as long as the matter is resolved and any principal taxes due are fully paid before 31st December 2026.
More Information
15. If I want more information about the tax amnesty how do, I get it?
You can get additional information through the KRA website (https://www.kra.go.ke/)
By visiting your nearest Tax Service Office or KRA desk at a Huduma Centre
Contact our call centre on Tel: 020 4 999 999, 0711 099 999, or Email: callcentre@kra.go.ke
Get in touch with your account or relationship manager at the Tax Service Office.
iTax Processing

How the Amnesty Is Processed in iTax

The following will trigger the amnesty process:

1

Automatic System Trigger Upon Payment

Upon the full payment of the outstanding principal tax for a period on or before 31st December 2025, the system will automatically waive the eligible penalties, interest and fines and generate an amnesty certificate.

2

Amnesty Batch Process For Those with No Principal Tax

Eligible taxpayers with no outstanding principal tax will be processed through the amnesty batch, which will automatically grant the applicable amnesty and generate the amnesty certificate. The 1st batch of all qualifying taxpayers with no principal tax (those who filed nil returns or cleared their principal tax before 14th July 2026) will be processed by 24th July 2026. After that, the amnesty batch will be executed weekly for all qualifying taxpayers with no principal tax.

3

Amnesty Triggered by Logging into the iTax Profile

This will continuously trigger the amnesty batch for all relevant periods as and when the liabilities accrue.

4

Manual Trigger by a KRA Officer

Officers with the respective amnesty role in the iTax back office may initiate the amnesty for eligible taxpayers using the initiate amnesty menu for cases not automatically reversed as per the above triggers. This could include cases requiring urgent TCCs, application for refunds, PIN/Obligation Cancellation, etc., where the outstanding liability relates to penalties, interest and fines for the amnesty periods.

iTax System Update

iTax System Update

The following issues have been identified and are currently under resolution by the end of August 2026.

Some Withholding Tax Transactions

Amnesty processing for select Withholding Obligation transactions is still under resolution.

Some Fines May Remain

Amnesty for fines is currently under resolution. This includes manually imposed fines for offences across various obligations.

Check Amount Before Paying a PRN

The system does not currently restrict payment registration for amnesty periods to the principal tax only. Consequently, when generating a Payment Registration Number (PRN), taxpayers are advised to modify the payable amount to reflect the principal tax only and once paid, the system will reverse the penalties and interest.

Penalties May Still Appear on the Payment Page

For select taxpayers, the penalties and interest may still appear under the payment registration page despite the ledger being updated with the reversed amounts.

Missing PAYE Credits 2013–2015

Amnesty for individual taxpayers with employment income during the iTax transition periods from 2013 to 2015, where the respective employers started filing PAYE from various tax periods, leading to missing PAYE credits and ledgers showing liabilities.

Other Missing PAYE Credits

For other periods with missing PAYE Credits, a generic solution is in progress to update respective employee ledgers and enable them to apply for amnesty. Affected employers can also engage their respective account managers or the KRA contact centre for case by case resolution from the back office of the specific tax periods the employers filed correctly, but PAYE credits were not posted to the employee’s ledger e.g. November and December 2025.

Confirmation

Your Amnesty Certificate

The amnesty certificate, once generated, will be sent to the iTax registered email and can also be downloaded under the consult and reprint functionality.

Taxpayer Profile
Useful Links
Consult and Reprint Acknowledgement Receipts and Certificates
Debt and Enforcement
Amnesty Certificate

Resolve Outstanding Tax Issues Before the Deadline

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.

Final Deadline

31st December 2026

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.

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2026 Tax Amnesty Programme - Apply Now!