The Finance Bill 2015 was presented to the National Assembly on 11 June 2015. The Bill contains far reaching improvements to different laws and regulations as well as introducing new tax laws.

Corporate taxation

The corporate tax rate for a company introducing its shares through listing on any securities exchange is 25% and for the extractive industry the withholding tax rate on training fees is proposed at 12.5% and fees derived by non-resident subcontractors from the provision of services to licensees are proposed at 5.625%.

Tax proposals for residential property include:

  • A proposed tax will be imposed on individuals earning residential rental income of KES 10 million or less per annum; and
  • A 100% tax reprieve will be available for individual landlords, in relation to principal taxes, penalties and interest, for the year 2013 and previous periods; and a reprieve on penalties and interest for the years 2014 and 2015, provided that individual landlords fully proclaim their rental income and pay principal taxes for the years 2014 and 2015 by 30 June 2016.

The proposal will be effective from 1 January 2016.