President William Ruto has signed the Finance Bill 2026 into law, locking in a major overhaul of Kenya’s tax filing calendar that will end the single June 30 deadline most taxpayers have known for years.
The President assented to the Bill on June 23, formally turning months of Treasury proposals into the Finance Act 2026.
Under the new law, taxpayers will be grouped into three filing categories based on their tax status. Nil filers, who have no taxable income, must file their returns within one month after the end of their income year, setting their deadline at January 31.
Individuals who are required to pay tax, including salaried employees under PAYE and people with other sources of income, will now have until April 30 to file their returns. This is the last day of the fourth month after the end of the tax year.
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Companies and other non-individual taxpayers have the most time to file their returns. They must submit them by the last day of the sixth month after the end of their accounting period. For those using the calendar year, the deadline remains June 30.
The change will not affect taxpayers filing returns this year. Returns for the 2025 income year must still be filed by June 30, 2026, regardless of taxpayer category.
The new phased filing calendar takes effect on January 1, 2027. This means the first January 31 and April 30 deadlines will apply in 2027 and will cover income earned during the 2026 tax year.
| Taxpayer Category | Deadline for returns due now (2025 income year) | New deadline under Finance Act 2026 (effective Jan 1, 2027, for 2026 income year) |
| Nil returns (no taxable income) | June 30, 2026 | January 31, 2027 |
| Individuals, including salaried employees (PAYE) and those with other income (side hustles, consultancy, rental income) | June 30, 2026 | April 30, 2027 |
| Companies & other non-individual taxpayers | Within 6 months of financial year-end | Unchanged: within 6 months of financial year-end (June 30, 2027 for calendar-year filers) |
Treasury has framed the shift as a compliance and efficiency measure. Officials argue that earlier filing deadlines allow KRA to verify and validate returns within the same financial cycle, improving revenue forecasting and reducing the discrepancies that often surface months after submission.
The Treasury argues that a shorter filing window is practical because KRA now pre-populates tax returns using data from eTIMS, withholding tax records, and customs filings. This means much of a taxpayer’s income information is already available before they begin filing their return.
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The reform has faced resistance. Even before it became law, former LSK president Faith Odhiambo warned that shortening the filing window would leave less time for taxpayers to complete audits and plan their finances, especially small businesses and individual traders.
The dispute has since moved to court. Business lobby groups, including Consumer Federation of Kenya, are challenging the shift of the tax filing deadline from June 30 to April 30, arguing that the shorter timeline could unfairly penalize taxpayers who would otherwise comply with their obligations.
For Kenyan taxpayers filing this year, nothing changes for now. You should still log in to iTax and file your tax returns by June 30, 2026. The new filing deadlines introduced under the Finance Act 2026 will only affect future tax years, starting in 2027.
However, the ongoing court case means the new filing calendar could still change. Even though the law has been signed, the final implementation of the new deadlines may not be fully settled.
