According to Josephine Mugure, head of KRA's tax policy department, the new system will eliminate the need to download and fill out spreadsheets. The whole process will take place through the browser. «We are switching to web forms, and Excel will no longer be needed, now all operations will be performed in an online environment», she explained.
It is planned to automatically generate declarations based on data from the department's internal databases, including eTIMS electronic invoices, information on personal income tax (PAYE), tax withholding documents, customs statistics and other external sources. Organizations using eTIMS will find that sales data has already been entered into the reports, excluding manual input. Similarly, PAYE's salary and deductions information will be recorded automatically thanks to data from employers.
In addition, the agency is improving an artificial intelligence-based virtual assistant named Shuru to expand the possibilities of filing declarations via WhatsApp. «By that time, Shuru will have been working for six months or more, all failures will be eliminated, which will ensure the stability of the system. We plan to significantly increase the number of types of reporting available via WhatsApp, going beyond the limited set for employees», said Mugure. This innovation is aimed at simplifying tax obligations and increasing the availability of electronic services of the fiscal authority.
According to the new changes, individuals must now file income tax returns by the end of April, while the deadline for corporate and other legal entities is the end of June. According to Mugure, this separation of reporting deadlines will reduce the burden on KRA resources and prevent system failures that occurred due to the mass filing of documents at the same time. She added that the agency is carrying out a technical upgrade of the infrastructure to ensure the stability of the platform and adapt to the expected increase in the volume of declarations before the April deadline.
The Law on Public Finance for 2026 amends Article 75 of the Law on Tax Procedures, legalizing the automatic filling out of income declarations. This allows the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to use digital systems and third-party data to create pre-filled tax documents for taxpayers.
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