Background

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) required all businesses filing their 2025 annual returns to ensure their expenses were generated through the Electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS). This presented businesses with challenges and the solution which was later provided was not helpful because businesses were required to upload those expenses in a CSV file with a column for KRA pin of the suppliers and scanned copies of the invoices and receipts. Hitherto, the challenge was getting those pins.

Latest changes

The system has been updated today, 19th May 2026, to make the requirement of including the supplier pin on the Manual Non-eTIMS CSV optional. This is because many informal businesses like matatu operators, farmers, roadside vendors, and Jua Kali merchants do not have KRA pins but are engaged in legitimate business.

Key Takeaways

• You can declare valid business expenses without eTIMS invoices using the Manual Non-eTIMS CSV upload and claim them immediately upon upload, without waiting for KRA approval.

• The supplier PIN is now optional when declaring Non-eTIMS/Manual expenses; informal traders and unregistered suppliers are no longer a barrier.