Ke Corporate Income Tax

---
name: ke-corporate-income-tax
description: "Source-cited draft: corporate income tax for Kenya (tax year 2025) — rates, thresholds and rules with primary-source citations. Unverified; pending local-accountant review."
license: "AGPL-3.0-or-later (code) / OpenAccountants Guide License v1.0 (content)"
metadata:
  source: openaccountants
  openaccountants_url: "https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/ke-corporate-income-tax"
  jurisdiction: "KE"
  tax_year: "2025"
  last_updated: "2026-07-13"
---

# Kenya Corporate Income Tax

## Corporation tax rates, base and deadlines

- **General taxation approach** — Resident companies are taxed at a flat 30% on worldwide income attributable to Kenya, while branches of non-resident companies pay a higher rate. Tax is paid in quarterly instalments with a balancing payment after year end.
- **Resident company corporation tax rate** — 30 percent  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470), Third Schedule — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/taxes-on-corporate-income)_
- **Branch of a non-resident company (permanent establishment) rate** — 37.5 percent  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470), Third Schedule — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/taxes-on-corporate-income)_
- **Reduced rate — start-ups certified by the Nairobi International Financial Centre Authority** — 15% for the first 3 years, then 20% for the following 4 years percent  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470) — https://ronalds.co.ke/a-complete-guide-to-taxation-in-kenya-2025/)_
- **Tax base** — Net taxable business profit (accounting profit adjusted for disallowed expenses, capital allowances and exempt income); income accrued in or derived from Kenya  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470) — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/income-determination)_
- **Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on transfer of property/securities** — 15% on the net gain percent  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470), Eighth Schedule — https://njagaadvocates.com/comprehensive-guide-to-business-taxes-in-kenya-2025/)_
- **Withholding tax on dividends to residents** — 5% (exempt where the resident recipient company controls 12.5%+ of the payer) percent  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470), Third Schedule — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/withholding-taxes)_
- **Withholding tax on dividends to non-residents** — 10% (5% for citizens of East African Community member states on listed shares) percent  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470), Third Schedule — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/withholding-taxes)_
- **Withholding tax on interest** — 15% (general rate, residents and non-residents) percent  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470), Third Schedule — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/withholding-taxes)_
- **Withholding tax on royalties — residents** — 5 percent  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470), Third Schedule — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/withholding-taxes)_
- **Withholding tax on royalties — non-residents** — 20 percent  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470), Third Schedule — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/withholding-taxes)_
- **Withholding tax remittance deadline** — By the 20th day of the month following deduction  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470); Tax Procedures Act, 2015 — https://www.kra.go.ke/individual/filing-paying/types-of-taxes/individual-withholding-tax)_
- **Instalment (advance) tax** — Paid quarterly — by the 20th of the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th months of the accounting period  _(Income Tax Act (Cap 470); Tax Procedures Act, 2015 — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/tax-administration)_
- **Corporation tax return filing deadline** — Within 6 months after the end of the accounting period  _(Tax Procedures Act, 2015 — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/tax-administration)_
- **Balance of tax payment deadline** — Within 4 months after the end of the accounting period (by the last day of the 4th month) ((approx — confirm))  _(Tax Procedures Act, 2015 — https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/kenya/corporate/tax-administration)_

## Today's figures and who stands behind this skill

This file is an AI skill (tax rules your AI follows) from OpenAccountants, copied on 2026-07-13. Rates, thresholds and deadlines change. For the current version of this skill, its official sources and the named accountant (if any) who stands behind it, call `get_skill` with slug `ke-corporate-income-tax` on the OpenAccountants connector (https://www.openaccountants.com/connect), or read https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/ke-corporate-income-tax. If neither is available, confirm every figure against the official source pages cited above before relying on it.