If you are not carrying on business in Kenya and hold no Kenyan tax registration, eTIMS does not reach you – imports are documented on the buyer's side. Revisit if you set up locally: the system covers every business from day one, with no turnover floor.

Services provided by non-residents without a Kenyan permanent establishment are one of the few remaining eTIMS carve-outs – your Kenyan customers can deduct those costs without an eTIMS invoice. A Kenyan VAT registration for digital services runs on declarations per the sources read; what triggers eTIMS is carrying on business in Kenya. If you have local activity or a PE question, confirm your position with the KRA.

The KES 5 million turnover exemption was revoked by the Tax Procedures (Electronic Tax Invoice) Regulations 2024 – every business, VAT-registered or not, issues through eTIMS. The free channels scale right down: the eTIMS Lite app, the taxpayer portal, and the *222# USSD short code for feature phones. Business customers will insist on eTIMS invoices – without one, your invoice is not deductible for them.

Integrate ERP and POS through OSCU/VSCU and treat supplier compliance as procurement policy: expenses without a valid eTIMS invoice have been non-deductible since 1 Jan 2024, and from the 2026 year of income all declared income and expenses must be eTIMS-supported. The penalty for not issuing is twice the tax due – but the bigger exposure is usually the lost deduction on the purchase side.