The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced a waiver of penalties and interest arising from intermittent downtime on its iTax platform, offering relief to taxpayers who experienced difficulties filing returns and making payments in September 2026.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

In a public notice issued on Wednesday, September 16, KRA said the disruption affected the normal functioning of return filing and payment services on the platform.

The waiver will only cover penalties and interest attributable to verified periods during which the affected iTax services were unavailable or intermittently accessible.

KRA said it would undertake the necessary system processes to identify the affected periods and determine the penalties and interest eligible for removal.

📌 What You Need to Know

“We will review penalties and interest incurred by taxpayers against the confirmed periods of iTax system downtime when processing the waiver,” KRA stated.

Additionally, the announcement came days before the September 20 deadline for filing Value Added Tax (VAT) returns, placing taxpayers under pressure to complete their obligations despite difficulties accessing the system.

KRA said penalties and interest accrued as a direct result of the downtime would be waived in accordance with Section 89(5A) of the Tax Procedures Act.

“Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) wishes to inform taxpayers that, following the recent intermittent downtime of the iTax portal, which affected the normal functioning of return filing and payment services, the Authority will waive penalties and interest accrued as a result of the system downtime in September 2026,” KRA stated.

The affected services include return filing and payment functions on iTax, with VAT taxpayers among those who reported challenges accessing the platform ahead of the September 20 filing deadline.

On September 16, KRA acknowledged that its iTax system was experiencing intermittent disruptions and said technical teams were working to restore normal services.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke