KRA PIN registration: what your business needs before you start

Why the PIN matters more than it looks

Your KRA Personal Identification Number is how Kenya Revenue Authority recognises you or your business. It is needed to file returns, register for VAT or PAYE, open many business bank accounts, apply for a Tax Compliance Certificate and bid for most tenders.

Registration on iTax is free. The cost comes later, when a PIN is registered with the wrong details or the wrong tax obligations and every return after that has to be corrected.

What to have ready

Individuals and sole proprietors need their national ID number, an email address they will keep using and an active phone number. KRA sends passwords, notices and assessments to the registered email, so a personal inbox that someone else manages, or an address you may lose, causes problems later.

Companies registered through the Business Registration Service usually receive a PIN as part of incorporation, so check your incorporation documents before applying separately. Partnerships, trusts and other entities register on iTax with their registration documents and the PINs of their partners, trustees or directors.

Register only the obligations that apply

During registration you choose tax obligations such as income tax, PAYE and VAT. Every obligation you add creates a filing duty, and a return is expected for it, even a nil return, by each due date.

Add PAYE when you take on employees and VAT when your taxable sales reach the registration threshold or you register voluntarily. Adding obligations you do not yet need is a common source of penalties for returns that were never filed.

Keep the record current

Update your email, phone, business address and obligations on iTax whenever they change. A PIN that is out of date can block a Tax Compliance Certificate application at exactly the moment a tender or licence depends on it.