Bring your household goods and car home duty free as a returning resident
Kenya Revenue Authority Customs & Border Control · sources read 2 Oct 2026
If you are a Kenyan citizen moving back home, your used household goods and one car you owned abroad for at least 12 months come in free of import duty, excise duty, VAT and IDF. Ship them within 90 days of arriving and have a licensed clearing agent process the exemption.
- Fee
- We couldn't confirm a fee from the official page. Check it there before you pay.
- Deadline
- Goods must arrive within 90 days of your return (up to 360 days with KRA's approval)
- Where
- Through a licensed customs clearing agent, who processes the exemption on KRA's iCMS system
What you need
- Shipping documents: invoice, bill of lading or air waybill, and packing list
- Your passport showing entry and exit stamps
- Proof you lived abroad, such as a visa or work or student permit
- For a car: Interpol clearance
- For a car: proof you owned it for at least 12 months
Steps
- Ship your household goods and car so they arrive within 90 days of the day you land. KRA can allow up to 360 days if you ask.
- Hire a licensed customs clearing agent. They apply for the returning-resident exemption on KRA's iCMS system and clear the goods for you.
- Give the agent your passport with entry and exit stamps, proof you lived abroad and the shipping documents.
- Pay the Railway Development Levy (RDL). It is still charged on exempt goods.
Watch out
- The car must be no more than 8 years old, and only one car qualifies. Buses, minibuses over 13 seats and trucks over 2 tonnes don't count.
- You can't get this car exemption again within 4 years.
- If you move abroad again within 90 days of arriving, you must export the goods within 30 days or pay the duty.
Who can apply
- Kenyan citizens changing their home from outside Kenya to Kenya
- Your spouse and children aged 18 and above, if they meet the same conditions
Official sources (1)
- Guidelines for Returning Residents kra.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026