All taxpayers who own businesses are required to onboard the electronic Tax Invoice Management System (e-TIMS) by March 31, 2024.

In an update by the Kenya Revenue Authority(KRA), this directive includes those businesses yet to register for VAT.

The notice explains that KRA will henceforth require businesses to electronically generate and transmit their invoices to the authority through the eTIMS platform failure to which such businesses will cease operation.

“To facilitate business continuity and allow for sufficient time for taxpayers to make adjustments in their systems and business operations, KRA wishes to notify non-VAT registered taxpayers that onboarding to the Etims platform will be available up to 31 March 2024,” part of the notice read.

During the onboarding process, KRA said no penalties will be imposed however, business owners will be required to progressively capture manually generated invoices and receipts issued after January 1 2024 up to the date of onboarding onto e-TIMS.

Notably, only expenses that would have been generated and transmitted through the electronic tax invoice management system (eTIMS) will be allowable for a tax deduction as directed in the Finance Act 2023.

eTIMS will now allow KRA to establish sales turnover from its end even for businesses with little visibility, especially in the informal sector which is being targeted for tax base expansion drive to increase revenues.