Starting January 2026, employed Kenyans can officially say goodbye to the annual headache of manually filing tax returns. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced a major system overhaul that will automate the entire process for salaried workers.
What’s Actually Changing?
The biggest change is there will be no more P9 forms. Instead of hunting down your employer for that document and manually entering all those numbers into the iTax system, you’ll just need to type in your national ID number.
Subsequently, the system will automatically pull up all your income and tax information.
This automation covers your gross pay, PAYE deductions, and other tax details that previously required manual input. For most employed Kenyans, this means tax filing becomes a few clicks instead of a multi-step process that often led to errors and frustration.
Who Will Benefit From This?
The new system particularly helps two groups of taxpayers:
- Low-income earners: Anyone making KES 24,000 or less per month who typically files nil returns can now do this automatically. No more paperwork for people who don’t owe additional taxes anyway.
- Salary-only employees: Workers whose only income comes from their regular job will see the biggest time savings. The system already knows everything it needs to know about their tax situation.
Read: How to File KRA Income Tax Returns
KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga explained that this shift is possible because the authority is finally connecting its internal systems with external government databases. Instead of operating in silos, different government agencies are now sharing data.
The tax authority is linking up with the Business Registration Service and Citizen Registration Services, creating a more complete picture of each taxpayer’s situation.
This integration follows international standards developed by the OECD and enables Kenya to participate in global information exchange systems.
KRA faced considerable challenges during the 2024 tax filing season, forcing them to extend deadlines and waive penalties for late filers. The manual system was clearly straining under the load of Kenya’s growing formal employment sector.
The authority had to waive the usual 5% penalty on overdue taxes (or KES 2,000, whichever is higher) plus the monthly 1% interest charges that normally apply to late payments. These problems highlighted the need for a more efficient system.
Additional Improvements
Beyond automating tax returns, KRA has also made it easier to access the iTax system itself. Taxpayers can now log in using their national ID numbers instead of having to remember their KRA PIN numbers.
The PIN option still works, but the ID number alternative helps people who’ve forgotten their login details.
