Appealing to the Tax Appeals Tribunal
The steps and time limits for lodging a Kenyan client's appeal with the Tax Appeals Tribunal, from the fee and notice to serving the Commissioner.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in Kenya
The objection did not work. KRA has issued its decision, the client still disagrees, and the next step is the Tax Appeals Tribunal. For many firms this is the first time a matter leaves KRA's own processes and enters a forum with its own rules, its own documents and some very short time limits.
Most appeals that fail on procedure fail in the first few weeks, when one of a sequence of small deadlines is missed. This article walks through that sequence as the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act sets it out, so that the firm can plan the work, brief the client and, where the matter calls for it, bring in an advocate in good time.
Before anything else: the fee and the notice to KRA
The Tax Appeals Tribunal Act, as published on Kenya Law in the version dated 1 July 2023, requires a person appealing a Commissioner's decision to pay a non-refundable fee of twenty thousand shillings before appealing. Section 12 also requires written notice of the appeal to be given to the Commissioner. The text of the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act on Kenya Law sets out the full procedure.
Two practical points. The fee is not refunded whatever the outcome, so it belongs in the client's decision to appeal, not in an afterthought. And the notice to the Commissioner is a separate act from the notice to the Tribunal; both must happen.
Thirty days to give notice of appeal
Section 13(1) requires a notice of appeal, in writing or by electronic means, to be submitted to the Tribunal within thirty days of receiving the Commissioner's decision.
The clock starts on receipt of the decision. That makes the date the client received KRA's letter the most important fact on the file. Ask the client for it at once, in writing, and do not rely on the date printed on the letter if it arrived later.
Fourteen days for the full papers
The notice is only the start. Under section 13(2), within fourteen days of filing the notice of appeal, the appellant must submit the memorandum of appeal, statements of facts, the appealable decision and any other necessary documents.
Those papers carry the argument. The memorandum sets out the grounds; the statement of facts tells the story the Tribunal will work from; the appealable decision is KRA's letter itself. The Act lets the Tribunal extend this time for absence from Kenya, sickness or other reasonable cause, but planning on an extension is planning to ask for a favour.
Two days to serve the Commissioner
Section 13(5) requires the appellant to serve a copy of the appeal on the Commissioner within two days after giving notice of appeal to the Tribunal. Of all the limits in the sequence, this is the one most easily lost, because it falls immediately after the filing everyone was focused on.
Have the service copy ready before the notice is filed, with the method of service decided, so that it can go out the same day.
Then the Commissioner answers
Once served, the Commissioner has thirty days to submit a statement of facts, including the reasons for the tax decision. That statement is the first full account of KRA's position the client will see in the appeal, and the firm should read it against the objection file: arguments that KRA did not make at objection stage are worth noting for the hearing.
| Step | Who | Time limit under the Act |
|---|---|---|
| Pay the fee and give written notice to the Commissioner | Appellant | Before appealing |
| Notice of appeal to the Tribunal | Appellant | Thirty days from receiving the decision |
| Serve a copy of the appeal on the Commissioner | Appellant | Two days after notice to the Tribunal |
| Memorandum, statements of facts, decision, documents | Appellant | Fourteen days after filing the notice |
| Statement of facts with reasons | Commissioner | Thirty days after being served |
Building and signing the bundle in Achekam
Achekam computes objection and appeal deadlines for Kenyan assessments from its approved administration rule, and sets each one to the end of the day in Nairobi time. Its filing calendar leaves out any deadline whose rule is awaiting approval or contested, and says why; where a date is left out, the team diaries it by hand from the Act.
The appeal bundle belongs in the Document Centre, where each client has its own folder. Staff can upload the objection, KRA's decision, the notice of appeal, the memorandum and the statements of facts, keep versions as drafts change, tag them and search them. A tag such as the appeal reference keeps the bundle together inside a busy client folder.
Where the client must sign the memorandum or the statement of facts, staff can prepare the document for e-signature, add signers and approvers in order, and the client signs from an e-mailed link without an Achekam account. With fourteen days for the full papers, a signature that does not need a meeting is time saved.
A working timetable
- Day the decision is received: record the date, open the appeal folder, brief the client on the fee.
- Within the first week: the client decides; pay the fee; give written notice to the Commissioner.
- Before the thirtieth day: file the notice of appeal with the Tribunal.
- Within two days of that: serve a copy on the Commissioner.
- Within fourteen days of the notice: file the memorandum, statements of facts and documents.
- On receipt of the Commissioner's statement: compare it with the objection file.
Where this fits
The appeal is only as strong as the objection that went before it, which is why making a notice of objection valid matters so much. For the period after the Tribunal decides, read after the Tax Appeals Tribunal decides.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
