The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has clarified that all penalties issued to taxpayers who filed their income tax returns during the extended filing period in July have been removed.
In a statement released on Thursday, August 21, the Authority confirmed that the penalties, which had been imposed in error, were vacated after a review of the system. “Kindly note that the process of penalty removal for the year 2024 for all those who filed during the extended period from 1st to 5th July 2025 was completed. Please note that the penalties have been vacated,” KRA announced.
The clarification comes after a section of taxpayers raised concerns over receiving penalty notifications despite submitting their returns within the five-day grace period. KRA explained that the penalties were a system-generated error that has since been corrected.
The taxman had extended the filing deadline to July 5, following a technical hitch on June 30 the statutory deadline for filing returns. The disruption affected thousands of taxpayers, preventing them from submitting their returns on time. In response, KRA not only extended the deadline but also increased working hours at its service centres and opened additional taxpayer clinics across major towns to ease the process.
By the official June 30 deadline, KRA reported that about 81 per cent of the 9.9 million registered taxpayers had successfully filed their 2024 income tax returns. However, the Authority has not disclosed how many filed during the extended period.
An income tax return is a declaration of income earned within a year, and every individual with a KRA PIN is legally obligated to file, regardless of whether they earned an income. The law allows KRA to waive penalties and interest if it is established that non-compliance was beyond the taxpayer’s control.
KRA commended Kenyans for their cooperation during the filing exercise. “KRA sincerely appreciates taxpayers for turning out in large numbers to file their income tax returns for the period ending 31 December 2024,” the Authority said.
The announcement is expected to offer relief to taxpayers who had been worried about the erroneous fines.
