KRA has issued a Step-By-Step Guide detailing new income and expense validation procedures for income tax returns, confirming that from 1 January 2026 declared figures will be cross-checked against TIMS/eTIMS, withholding tax and customs import data through the iTax platform.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has published a Step-By-Step Guide for Income and Expense Validations for Income Tax Returns, setting out new validation procedures that will apply from 1 January 2026.
The guide explains the validation process first announced in November 2025 and confirms that, effective 1 January 2026, KRA will begin validating income and expenses declared in both individual and non-individual income tax returns against data from TIMS/eTIMS, Withholding Income Tax gross data, and import records from Customs. The validation will take place upon submission of returns for the 2025 year of income/accounting period via the iTax platform.
KRA has also introduced modifications to the iTax filing process. Taxpayers are required to download the latest Income Tax Return Excel file from the iTax Portal using the option “Download Autopopulated ITR/ITNR/IT2C/IT2P Return”. Certain sections of the template will be automatically populated using data available in iTax and other integrated systems to reduce manual data entry, minimise errors, and simplify filing.
However, income and expenses will not be prefilled in the downloaded file. These will be validated at the time of upload. Taxpayers must make necessary adjustments before submission, including manual adjustments for business expenses not captured by electronic invoicing (TIMS/eTIMS), accounting and accrual adjustments for reconciliation of taxable income (such as deferred income, prepayments, or cost of goods sold from inventory), and credit and debit notes where sales or purchases are not automatically reflected.
KRA stated that all declared income and expenses must be supported by a valid electronic tax invoice, correctly transmitted with the buyer’s PIN, where applicable, subject to exceptions under Section 23A of the Tax Procedures Act, Cap 469B and the Tax Procedures (Electronic Tax Invoice) Regulations, 2024.
The authority added that taxpayers are encouraged to request TIMS/eTIMS schedules of annual income and expenses from their designated account managers. Feedback from taxpayers and stakeholders has been invited to support implementation.
