Filing your KRA return on a Mac (when the iTax tool won't open)

The problem every Mac user hits

You download the autopopulated return from iTax, double-click it, and... nothing useful happens. The file is a macro-enabled Excel workbook (.xlsm) built for Windows. On a Mac, Excel often blocks the macros, the "validate" and "submit" buttons do nothing, and you're stuck staring at a spreadsheet that won't behave.

You are not doing anything wrong. The tool simply wasn't designed with macOS in mind.

Things people try (and the catch with each)

• Enable macros in Excel for Mac. Sometimes works. Go to Excel → Preferences → Security & Privacy and enable macros, then reopen the file. But many of iTax's macros still misbehave or the submit step silently fails.
• Use the iTax online/web return. For straightforward returns you can often skip the Excel tool entirely and file directly in the iTax web form. This is the most reliable Mac route — but it's fiddly if you have multiple income sources.
• Borrow a Windows machine or use a VM. It works, but who has a spare Windows laptop lying around?
• Use LibreOffice. It opens the file, but the KRA macros frequently don't run there either.

The easy way: let Ushuru do it

Here's the honest pitch. You don't actually need the Excel tool to open on your Mac at all.

Just forward us the file on WhatsApp — the .zip you downloaded, the .xlsm, or even a clear screenshot of the figures. We read it, reconcile it against KRA's records, show you the result, and file it for you. Your Mac never has to wrestle a single macro.

Reminder: withholding tax already deducted is a prepayment, not a final tax — so even a "simple" return can still leave you owing or owed. We work that out for you.

So, in short

If the iTax tool won't open on your Mac:

1. Don't fight the spreadsheet.
2. Forward the file to Ushuru on WhatsApp.
3. Review the numbers and approve.
4. Lipa na M-Pesa, and you're done.

That's it. No Windows, no macros, no stress.