Filing
Understanding the 2026 tax amnesty
What the KRA penalty-and-interest amnesty actually covers, who qualifies, and the deadline you can't afford to miss.
What the amnesty is
The 2026 tax amnesty is KRA's offer to wipe the slate on penalties and interest — the extra charges that pile up when a return is late or unpaid. It's aimed at getting people back into the system without being crushed by years of accumulated charges.
Think of it like this: the principal tax is the actual tax you owe. The penalties and interest are the punishment for paying late. The amnesty forgives the punishment — not the tax itself.
What it covers (and the deadline)
- It waives penalties and interest on tax periods up to 31 December 2025.
- To qualify, you must pay the principal tax for those periods by 31 December 2026.
- If you pay the principal, the penalties and interest on those periods are waived.
The deadline is real. Miss 31 December 2026 and the penalties and interest can come back. Filing and paying your principal before then is how you lock in the waiver.
Who should care most
- Non-filers with several outstanding years — this is the cheapest window you'll get to clear the backlog.
- Anyone with a balance owed that has been gathering interest quietly on iTax.
- People who thought they were compliant because tax was withheld — see Why do I owe tax if withholding was already deducted?
How Ushuru helps
When you message us, we:
- Pull your KRA position across the open years.
- Show you the principal versus the penalties and interest clearly.
- Tell you exactly what to pay to qualify for the waiver — and you can lipa na M-Pesa right after.
We do not invent figures — every number we show is reconciled against KRA's own records.
One honest note
Ushuru is an independent service. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by KRA. We just make the amnesty easy to actually use before the window closes.