Tax residence in Kenya and whether foreign income is taxed
Kenya Revenue Authority · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Kenya taxes income earned in or from Kenya. If you are a Kenyan tax resident, pay for work you do abroad and the whole profit of a business you run partly abroad also count as Kenyan income. You are resident if you have a home in Kenya and spent any time here in the year, or, without a home, you spent 183 days or more here in the year, or averaged over 122 days a year across three years.
- Where
- Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA): declare income on iTax; residence certificates from KRA's Competent Authority office
Steps
- Check whether you have a permanent home in Kenya. If you do and you were in Kenya at any time in the year, you are resident.
- No home in Kenya? Count your days here in the year (January to December). 183 days or more makes you resident.
- Under 183 days? You are still resident if you were here this year and the two years before for an average of more than 122 days a year.
- If you are resident, declare pay for work done in Kenya or abroad in your annual return on iTax.
- Need to prove your Kenyan residence to another country? Ask KRA for a tax residence certificate.
Watch out
- A 'permanent home' can be a place available to you to live in Kenya, or where KRA thinks your personal or economic interests are closest.
- If you are resident and run a business partly outside Kenya, the whole profit is treated as Kenyan income.
- Taxed abroad too? Where Kenya has a tax treaty with that country, foreign tax can be credited against the Kenyan tax on that income.
Who this covers
- Everyone with income that accrued in or was derived from Kenya, resident or not.
- A company is resident if it is incorporated under Kenyan law.
Official sources (3)
- Income Tax Act (Cap. 470), revised 2026 kra.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Individual Income Tax kra.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Treaties and International Policy kra.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026