Kenya: eTIMS tax invoices
In Kenya, per the summaries read, suppliers issue invoices through the Kenya Revenue Authority's eTIMS system, and an expense without a valid eTIMS invoice carrying the buyer's PIN is reported as non-deductible for income tax. Below: how it works as secondary summaries describe it, where this page’s knowledge is thin, and a local check of a KRA PIN’s shape.
How it works (as secondary summaries report)
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Issue | The seller issues each invoice or receipt through eTIMS (KRA app, API integration or certified solution); it is transmitted to KRA and returned with a control unit data and QR code, as guides describe it. |
| Who | VAT-registered businesses first; later guidance reported extending onboarding to non-VAT-registered taxpayers. Dates and thresholds were not read here. |
| Identify | Seller and buyer are identified by the 11-character KRA PIN. The buyer’s PIN is what lets the buyer claim the expense or input VAT. |
| Buyer | Per the Finance Act 2023 summaries, expenses without an eTIMS-generated invoice are not deductible for income tax; KRA is reported to cross-check declared expenses against eTIMS data. Reports differ on when and on recent easing. |
| Penalty | Penalties for not issuing eTIMS invoices exist as reported; amounts were not read here. |
Written from web search summaries and adviser guides (EY, vendor and news write-ups), not from the Finance Act, KRA notices or the eTIMS portal, none of which were read for this page. Dates, scope, easing of the deduction rule and penalty amounts may have changed; treat every date and figure as a lead to check.
Check a KRA PIN
Tests the shape (letter, nine digits, letter; spaces, hyphens and case are ignored) and the first letter. It does not look anything up, so it cannot say whether the number is registered, active, or belongs to the name on the invoice.
The shape is as secondary guides (lookuptax.com among them) describe it. No check-digit rule was found, and nothing was read from KRA’s own pages; KRA’s iTax PIN checker is the authority.
What this checker does and does not cover
The main checker reads UBL, CII and Factur-X and applies EN 16931 and Peppol rules. It does not read the eTIMS invoice format, call eTIMS or iTax, or have Kenyan codes. Treat the PIN test here as a typo catch only.
Test a file before you send it
For a European or Peppol invoice, open the checker, drop your XML and read the findings, each with a rule ID and a fix (the rule reference). No account, nothing uploaded. No invoice yet? The e-invoice creator turns a form into UBL or CII XML and checks it. Other countries: all mandates by country.
Common questions
What is Kenya's eTIMS?
The Kenya Revenue Authority's Electronic Tax Invoice Management System. Suppliers issue invoices and receipts through it (a KRA-provided app, an API integration or a certified solution) and each one is transmitted to KRA. This is how secondary guides describe it; the Finance Act and KRA notices were not read for this page.
Do I need an eTIMS invoice to deduct an expense?
Secondary summaries of the Finance Act 2023 say expenses not supported by an invoice generated through an electronic tax invoice system are not deductible for income tax, and that the buyer's PIN must be on the invoice. KRA is also reported to have eased the iTax declaration of expenses without eTIMS invoices, and the start date of its cross-checks is reported differently by different sources. Check KRA's current notices before relying on any of this.
What does a KRA PIN look like?
Guides report 11 characters: a letter (A for individuals, P for companies and other non-individuals), nine digits and a letter, for example A123456789Z. No public check-digit rule was found, so this page tests shape only; a match does not mean the PIN is registered or belongs to the name on the invoice.
Can this checker validate a Kenyan eTIMS invoice?
No. It does not read KRA's invoice data format, does not call eTIMS or iTax, and has no Kenyan rules. It tests a PIN's shape on this page, and a clean result is not an approval by the Kenya Revenue Authority.
Open the E-invoice Preflight checker to validate your own invoice file.
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