Finance Act 2026 dates for a firm's calendar
The Finance Act 2026 dates a Kenyan firm should diarise for clients, from the July and September 2026 changes to the amnesty and the 2027 filing timeline.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in Kenya
Every Finance Act brings a round of client questions, but the ones that cause trouble are about dates rather than rates. When does this apply? Is it already in force? Do we need to do anything before year-end? A firm that answers those questions from a single, shared calendar saves itself a great many separate conversations.
The Finance Act 2026 has an unusual spread of effective dates, from mid-2026 to the start of 2027, plus an amnesty with a hard deadline. This article pulls together the dates KRA has published, explains which clients each one touches, and shows how to put them into the firm's calendar and client communications.
The effective dates KRA has published
KRA's summary of the Act gives three headline dates. Most Finance Act 2026 amendments take effect on 1 July 2026. The new import documentation requirement takes effect on 1 September 2026. The new income tax return filing timelines take effect on 1 January 2027.
KRA's Finance Act 2026 summary sets out the changes to income tax, VAT, excise and tax procedures with their effective dates and what taxpayers need to do. It is the page to check first when a client asks whether a particular change applies yet. Businesses reading about the Act for themselves are directed to what the Finance Act 2026 means for Kenyan businesses.
The calendar at a glance
| Date | What happens, per KRA | Clients affected |
|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2026 | Most amendments take effect | Most clients; review each change against the client list |
| 1 September 2026 | Import documentation requirement starts | Clients that import |
| 31 December 2026 | Last day to pay outstanding principal tax under the amnesty | Clients with older penalties and interest |
| 1 January 2027 | New income tax return filing timelines | Individuals, the self-employed and partnerships |
| 30 April each year, from 2027 | Individuals' income tax returns due | Individuals, the self-employed and partnerships |
New filing timelines from 2027
KRA says that from 1 January 2027, individual taxpayers, including self-employed persons and partnerships, must file income tax returns by the last day of the fourth month after the year of income. For individuals, that means 30 April.
Companies and other non-individual taxpayers are unaffected: KRA says they continue to file by the last day of the sixth month after the end of their accounting period.
The change puts the individual filing deadline at the end of April. For a firm with a large book of individual and partnership clients, that alters staffing in the early months and the timing of requests for documents. The deadline itself is discussed further in the individual returns deadline in Kenya.
The amnesty deadline
KRA says the Finance Act 2026 tax amnesty covers penalties, interest and fines on liabilities due up to 31 December 2025, provided the outstanding principal tax is paid by 31 December 2026, subject to conditions. KRA is clear that the amnesty does not remove principal tax.
The date to diarise is 31 December 2026. A client with old penalties and interest needs to know, well before then, how much principal is outstanding, whether it can pay, and what conditions KRA attaches. The firm's role is to identify those clients early, because the work of agreeing the principal figure takes time.
Import documentation and clients that import
KRA says that from 1 September 2026 importers must obtain and retain an export declaration, export entry, customs export certificate or equivalent document from the country of export, and keep these records for at least five years. KRA warns that failure to produce satisfactory documentation may affect claims relating to value, origin, ownership, exemptions, deductions or refunds.
For importing clients, this is a records task rather than a filing one: every import from 1 September 2026 needs the exporting country's document on file. Add it to the client's import checklist and to the documents requested at year-end.
Instalment tax dates to keep in the calendar
Instalment tax is not new, but it sits on the same calendar. Kenyan instalment tax is due on the 20th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th months of the year, based on the lower of 110% of the previous year's tax or the year's estimate. From 1 July 2026, individuals with employment income only are exempt.
Calendar rules and automation templates in Achekam
Achekam can carry these dates, with clear limits on what it does with them.
Rules approved first. Every Kenyan tax figure in Achekam's rule book was seeded "under review", and Achekam computes nothing from a figure until an Achekam platform administrator approves it. No firm user can change a rate.
The filing calendar. Achekam computes objection and appeal deadlines for Kenyan assessments from the approved administration rule. Its filing calendar leaves out any deadline whose rule is awaiting approval or contested, and says why. Deadlines are set to the end of the day in Africa/Nairobi time. A date missing from the calendar is therefore a prompt to check the rule's status, not a sign that nothing is due.
Automation templates. Achekam's Kenyan automation templates only create work items and notices. They never file, pay, approve, object or verify, and each stays off until a person turns it on. They are offered only to firms with an active Kenya pack. A template that raises a work item for each importing client on 1 September, or for each amnesty candidate well before December, gives the team a prompt; a person still does the work. More on the templates is in automation templates for Nigeria and Kenya.
A client communication plan
- Sort the client list by who is affected: importers, amnesty candidates, individuals and partnerships, and everyone else.
- Send each group a short note naming the dates that apply to them, with the link to KRA's summary.
- For amnesty candidates, follow up with a figure for outstanding principal and a payment plan.
- For importers, add the export-country document to the monthly records request.
- For individuals and partnerships, move the document request date earlier to fit the April deadline.
- Record in each client's file that the note was sent and when.
Start with the amnesty list
Of all the dates, the amnesty deadline has the most at stake for a client if it passes. Identify the clients with pre-2026 penalties and interest first.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
