What you can do on the KRA M-Service app
What a Kenyan business owner can do on KRA's M-Service app, from rental income and turnover tax to PIN and TCC checks, and what still needs iTax.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Kenya
For a landlord with a handful of flats, or a shop owner on turnover tax, logging into iTax on a laptop every month can feel like more ceremony than the task deserves. KRA's M-Service app puts several everyday jobs on a phone.
It does not put all of them there. Knowing where the app stops saves a wasted evening and, more importantly, a missed deadline. This article sets out what the app does, what still needs iTax, and how to keep a proper record of anything filed or paid from a phone.
What KRA says the app can do
KRA's list of its online services describes the M-Service mobile app as a way to file and pay Monthly Rental Income and Turnover Tax, apply for PINs, and verify tax compliance certificates and PINs.
That is a short list, and a useful one. It covers the two regimes most used by small landlords and small traders, plus the checks a business makes on the people it deals with.
Rental income and turnover tax from a phone
Monthly Rental Income. KRA says the rent is declared and the tax paid on or before the 20th of the following month, so rent received in January is due by 20 February. A nil return is filed for any month with no rent. The return can be filed on iTax or on the M-Service app, but only after each property has been registered on iTax under "Register Property Details". The regime itself is explained in Monthly Rental Income tax for landlords.
Turnover tax. KRA says the turnover tax return must be filed and the tax paid on or before the 20th day of the month following the end of the tax period. It is filed on iTax or the app, and paid at a partner bank or through M-PESA. For what to keep behind each return, see turnover tax filing records.
When paying by mobile money, KRA says all tax payments must go through the Government PayBill 222222. Older KRA pages still show a different paybill; ignore them.
Applying for and checking PINs
The app can be used to apply for a PIN, which suits a new sole trader starting out. More often, a business uses it to check PINs: a new supplier's before the first bill is entered, or a tenant's before a lease is signed. A PIN that does not verify is a question to raise before money changes hands, not after.
Checking a tax compliance certificate
KRA says a Tax Compliance Certificate is valid for twelve months only, is applied for on iTax and is sent to the applicant's e-mail address. Its validity can be checked on the M-Service app or with the Certificate Checker on the iTax portal.
That makes the app a quick way to test a certificate a supplier hands you with a quotation. A certificate that looks right on paper but fails the check is worth a phone call before you sign anything. Tax compliance certificates in Kenya covers applying for your own.
What still needs iTax on a computer
From KRA's own descriptions, several tasks sit on iTax rather than the app:
- Registering properties. Monthly Rental Income filing depends on each property being registered on iTax first.
- Applying for a tax compliance certificate. KRA says the application is made on iTax.
- Returns for other taxes. KRA's list for the app names rental income and turnover tax. VAT, PAYE and annual income tax returns are filed on iTax, most of them with the downloadable Excel forms.
If your business is registered for VAT or employs staff, the app is a convenience on the side, not your main filing tool.
Recording what you filed and paid in Achekam
Wherever you file, the record belongs in your books. Achekam does not file Kenyan returns: a person with the business's KRA filing permission files on iTax, or here on the app, and uploads the acknowledgement, and a different person verifies it before the return counts as filed. If the app shows a confirmation rather than a downloadable receipt, save it and upload that.
Payments are recorded the same way. Achekam records a Kenyan tax payment with KRA's Payment Registration Number and receipt, never generates a payment reference itself, refuses the discontinued paybill 572572 and needs a second person to confirm the payment.
On certificates, Achekam checks its own records for what would stand in the way of a tax compliance certificate but never claims KRA will issue one. It takes the expiry from the certificate itself; where a certificate states no expiry, it shows KRA's twelve-month practice and labels it as such.
Good habits when filing from a phone
- Check the property, the month and the amount on the screen before you submit; small screens make it easy to tap the wrong period.
- File nil returns for empty months on the app as promptly as you would file a return with tax on it.
- Pay against the PRN for that return, and keep the M-PESA confirmation message until the payment is recorded.
- Save every confirmation the app shows, and move it into your records the same day.
- Sign out on shared phones, and do not let others file in your name from theirs.
KRA's list of online services describes the M-Service app beside iTax, the PIN checker and the certificate checkers, so you can see at a glance which tool handles which job.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
