1.Visit the KRA iTax online portal website athttps://itax.kra.go.ke/KRA-Portal/
2.At the KRA iTax portal login page enter your KRA Pin number, password and the answer to security question
3.Click on ‘e-Returns’ or hover on ‘Returns’ on the navigation bar and click on ‘File Returns’
4.Select the type, Enter your taxpayer’s PIN and select the Taxobligation applicable to you before clicking on ‘Next’
5.The next page will walk you through the filling process. Basically, you just need to click on the links provided to either download the Tax Returs form in Excel or ODS
6.Fill out all the applicable areas in the downloaded tax returnsform and save your document in your computer.
7.You need to enable macros to be able to ‘Validate’ and Zip your File.
8.Return to the page and select the period for which you are filling the returns, upload the zipped filled out iTax Returns form, agree to the terms and select ‘Submit’.
9.When asked whether you would like to upload the file, click on ‘OK’
Step By Step Guide on How to fill KRA iTax Returns forms Online
How to get a tax compliance certificate from iTax
There are a couple of reasons you would want to get a Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC). The main one being – you are after a government tender and you have been asked for your TCC. Our main reason for getting it was purely because we wanted to be compliant, period.If you fall under either of those reasons (or a different one all together), then you will appreciate this post. In the past the process of getting a TCC was a tiresome manual one that took 30 days! With iTax, you can now get your TCC with as few clicks of a button as possible!Checklist*.Company PIN number – to log on to iTax*.A reason for your application*.Time: To apply – 2 minutes; For feedback and to follow up – 1 / 2 days*.Ensure that you have met all your tax obligations (see below)A Tax Compliance Certificate shall be issued to taxpayers who are compliant with the tax obligations as per the tax laws. These obligations are:-
1. Filing of tax returns for the registered tax obligations
2. Payment of the assessed taxes
3. Declaring the correct income.ProcedureThe Application on iTaxLog ontoiTaxusing your PIN number. On the home screen, go to the “Certificates” tab and choose the “Apply for Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC)” option from the drop down menu.Proceed to fill out the application form by giving a reason for your application – the PIN number and company name are automatically filled out – and when done, click the “Submit” button.The system then acknowledges receipt of your application and gives you back an “Acknowledgement number” and an “Acknowledgement receipt” for download. You can download this receipt for future reference.The Follow Up AfterwardsAfter “finishing” my application, I was very excited and thought how great things were now! From the olden days of physically visiting KRA, filling out a form manually and waiting 30 days for feedback on your application to just a few minutes on a machine!My excitement was short-lived as a few days later, I received an email from KRA with the subject line:“Rejection of Application forTaxComplianceCertificate”(see email below).Your first instinct is to panic! The thought of KRA catching up with youfor not submitting tax returns, is scary. At least for me it is. Then you start thinking about what you could have done wrong as you know very well you HAVE submitted all the returns (unless you have not) andhave paid!After a while you relax knowing (1) this is KRA, (2) they have a new system, (3) they are transitioning. It then becomes obviousthat the reason iTax would assume that you had not submitted your PAYE returns for the said years, was because you were not using iTax back then, chances are you were using ITMS!Ideally since BOTH are online systems, then the records should have been pushed to iTax during the transition but I guess not. This is what Idid next and it worked:I sent an email to KRA (contact us for the specific emails we used)explaining that our application had been rejected and the reason was invalid as we had submitted and paid all our tax returns and that it was obvious iTax is assuming we hadn’t done these submissions as we were using ITMS.Someone then actually got in touch with me and advised me to re-apply for the TCC and send them an email quoting the “Acknowledgement Number” of our new application.
I am assuming that they manually check that you are not lying about meeting your tax obligations and then they ‘stop’ iTax from sending you another rejection email and instead, enable it to send you an approval one as below:
This email will come with your Tax Compliance Certificate attached to it. Download it, print it, hang it on your wall and rejoice that eventually you still did not have to leave the comfort of your office to get your TCC.Note: A Tax Compliance Certificate is only valid for12 monthsfrom the date of application and KRA reserves the right to withdraw it if evidence is found that you did not meet the application criteria.The issuance of a Tax Compliance Certificate will not rule out an audit being carried out and any taxes found to be owing will be payable not withstanding the fact that a TCC has been issued.
How to register a company on KRA’s iTax
Company registration on KRA’s iTaxFollowing the recentKRAdevelopments,KRAhave issued a notice informing the public about their new tax administration system. The system is meant to offer efficient and effective taxpayer service delivery and we have all been advised to file our returns through the online platform.As of the1st March 2014, KRA will not accept any manual tax returns and all taxpayers will be expected to useiTaxfor filling their returns.Kindly note that KRA will not accept nor issue receipts for manual returns of Domestic Tax Payments in any of its offices. All Domestic Tax Payments MUST be made through the Payment Gateway in any of the KRA agent banks listed on the KRA website.iTaxwill eventually replace the oldITMSand the TSW taxpayer software (used for VAT returns) but for a period, KRA seems to be running both alongside each other.We will cover the new iTax in detail as more and more features are enabled and as we learn more about how to use the system.In this blog post we will guide you through registering your company on iTax as this is required for any usage of the system.
STEP 1. Confirm your Tax obligations (old system).iTax will pull the information about which TAX obligations your company has from the old (ITMS) system, so the first thing to do is to verify that you have enabled the correct tax obligations.It is especially important to remember the withholding tax obligation, as this one was never really required before – but you need it to do withholding tax going forward!
STEP 2. Register on iTax (iPage)Click on the big iTax banner on KRA’s main website – it will take you directly to the login section of the new iTax.You need to first register your PIN on the iTax software to be able to access the system. The above login page allows you to do that.Click on the ‘Have PIN but not Registered Online?’ link.Select ‘Non Individual’ for the company and proceed to fill our your company PIN number and your Business Registration Certificate Number.The sections above allow you to update all you taxpayer information. Start from section A all through to section F confirming that all you details are correct, some might need to be updated but most will remain as they are. The iTax system more or less has picked all your information from the old ITMS system so there is little to make changes on.Typically, you will not be able to submit your information if there were any mandatory fields left unanswered.But once you are done and everything is up-to-date you will get this download link to access your new PIN certificate (Print it and hang it somewhere visible in your office).
STEP 3. First login / Change passwordAt this point you have received an email with the login and password that you can use to log into iTax. Two things worth noting here:
1.Everyone is assigned the same inital password, so you should change it as soon as possible (kind of a security risk if you ask us).
2.The first time login / change password page is broken – especially if you are using Linux or Mac OSX, more on this.When you first login you will be presented with a form that asks you to change your password, but upon clicking the submit button you are very likely to see the error message “Please read the KRA Website Secure Password Policy Guidelines and mark it into checkbox”Problem is you can not see/find the checkbox that you are supposed to check. How bad this problem is depends on your Browser and operating system.Essentially the checkbox is visually locatedUNDER the Vision 2030 logo, and there is no way you can click on it.
There are a few possible solutions to this problem.
*.If you are familiar with webdevelopment you can use Firebug or a similar tool to “remove” the Vision 2030 logo.
*.In your browser settings you might be able to remove the showing of images all together.
*.In your browser settings you might be able to reduce the text-size – thereby making the checkbox move up from behind the logo.The easiest solution however might be to use a Windows computer using Internet Explorer as a browser.
Using Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 11 we were able to see a tiny bit of the checkbox peeking up from under the Vision 2030 logo – just enough that you can actually click it.Once you are successful in changing your password, you can login back into the iTax software to see the different things that you can be able to do using the electronic system.Take special care to look at the “returns” menu point – from where youwill find sections for PAYE, VAT etc (depending on which tax obligations your company has enabled – see step 1).For your own sake we highly recommend that you download the example spreadsheets and take a look at what you need to fill out before you can upload file a return – It is quite significant the amount of information you need to fill out.
This Is How iTax Works
ver the years, Kenyan taxpayers have been filing tax returns manually every time they are due. This process has been lengthy and cumbersome since taxpayers had to go to a Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) office to submit these returns.To improve domestic tax services, KRA has introduced iTax system, a webbased system intended to deliver services to taxpayers effectively and efficiently. This is also intended to improve collection and enable convenient and improved taxpayer compliance. The iTax portal enables taxpayer registration, filing of tax returns and other key compliance functions such as issuance of Tax Compliance Certificates, refunds, waivers and tax exemptions. You can also update your tax registration details and monitor your account in iTax system.To help spread awareness and improve on the understanding of how the iTax system works, Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) last evening hosted an iTax team from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) at Nailab, Bishop Magua building.According to the KRA iTax team present, the iTax system automates everything therefore you don’t have to submit physical forms while filing your tax returns. They have now done away with the manual system whichwas very inefficient and cumbersome. This iTax system also allows taxpayers to register for the first time and apply for a PIN, without having to go to KRA. For those who have PIN from the old system, they will simplyupdate it in the iTax system before proceeding.The KRA iTax team stated that among the services that used to be manually offered such as tax compliance certificate application can now be done conveniently online using the iTax system. You can check the status of your application and print your tax compliance certificate (TCC) once approved. Through the TCC checker in the same system, you can verify your TCC.Using the iTax system, taxpayers can file returns for PAYE, VAT and individual returns after registering in the system. It is very important to provide a reliable e-mail address which you can easily access since your password will be sent to this e-mail address. ITax system also allows you to change your email address.According to the iTax team present yesterday, all taxpayers must file their tax returns by the June 30th deadline to avoid penalties. If you don’t file your returns by this date, the system will automatically penalize you. They further stated that this deadline is set by law and filing of returns cannot bean open process, as many taxpayers have requested.In the iTax system, taxpayers can also check and print withholding tax certificate and apply for waiver. If you have no taxes to declare, you can file a NIL return on iTax system. This is done by going to the Returns tab and picking file NIL return on the drop-down menu. The iTax system is Excel based with formulas. To ensure that the system works properly, you must enable macros in your Excel, otherwise you may end up with errors.The audience had many questions for the KRA team regarding tax refunds and waivers. As far as tax refunds are concerned, the KRA team agreed with the audience that it takes a long time to get any refunds but clarified that refunds have to be allocated by the Treasury, not KRA. Other queries on tax waivers and penalties just couldn’t go away but to improve the experience, taxpayers are also expected to provide accurate information and pay their taxes and file returns within the given period to avoid penalties.The evening ended with a feeling that more such sessions need to be organized frequently to clear the air not only on iTax system but the issue of taxation as a whole. It is now just 2 weeks to the deadline, have you filedyour returns on iTax system? There will be no more manual filling of forms,just clickHEREtoday and avoid penalties.
No more manual tax filling after Aug 1 2015– KRA
The authority said no manual filling for VAT, PAYE and Income Tax returns will be accepted and instead, taxpayers will be required to fill their returns through KRA’s online system, iTax.“All VAT, PAYE and Income Tax Filers are advised to file their tax returnsdue in August 2015 in the iTax system. Therefore NO manual VAT, PAYE and Income Tax returns will be accepted with effect from 1st August 2015 at any KRA office,” a statement from the authority read.Taxpayers have now been urged to update their details in the iTax system in order to access all online tax services.KRA says it is confident that the iTax system can now be accessed by everyone and which at the moment can allow all taxpayers to file tax returns from anywhere, anytime.“The system allows taxpayers to update their tax registration details, make payments and enquire about their tax status. It is one of KRA’s key initiatives that provide an integrated view of a taxpayer,” the authority said.Currently, more than two million taxpayers are registered on the system and are accessing tax services through the platform.In order to assist taxpayers, KRA says it will continue to sensitise and train taxpayers in all regions adding that iTax Support Centres have been set-up in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nyeri, Thika, Eldoret and Nakuru to offer any needed support.In addition, KRA has devolved its support services to all Huduma Centres countrywide and partnered with 33 banks to facilitate faster payment of taxes.Taxpayers are advised to access iTax system through https://itax.kra.go.ke and file their returns online. A step by step guide has been provided on the KRA Website.