When a Kenyan company pays a consultant or freelancer, it usually keeps back part of the fee as withholding tax and pays it to KRA on your behalf. This shows what actually reaches your account.
Withholding tax calculator for freelancers
What you receive after a Kenyan client withholds tax on professional or consultancy fees, and what to invoice.
The rates
- 5% on management, professional, consultancy and training fees paid to Kenyan residents. Payments to one person totalling KES 24,000 or less in a month are exempt.
- 20% for non-residents, sometimes reduced by a tax treaty.
For residents it is a credit, not a final tax
Ask every client for the withholding tax certificate, and check it appears on your iTax account. On your annual return, the tax already withheld is credited against what you owe, and any excess can be refunded.
See Freelancing in Kenya.