The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced a record-breaking performance in its customs tax collection, surpassing all previous milestones attained in previous years.
On Wednesday, the authority revealed that it had collected Ksh85.146 billion in September 2025, marking the highest monthly total in its history.
This performance exceeded the monthly target of Ksh81.341 billion by Ksh3.806 billion, equating to an achievement rate of 104.7 per cent.
KRA noted that the September collection represents an 18.8 per cent growth compared to the same period in the previous financial year, demonstrating consistent improvement in revenue mobilisation. The previous record of Ksh82.554 billion was set in January 2025.
''In September alone, customs collections exceeded the monthly target of Ksh81.341 billion by Ksh 3.806 billion, achieving a performance rate of 104.7 per cent. This outstanding result also marks an impressive year-on-year growth of 18.8 per cent compared to the same period in the previous financial year,'' KRA stated.
According to the taxman, the growth was attributed to great performance in both trade and petroleum tax categories, with trade taxes accounting for Ksh51.737 billion against a target of Ksh50.739 billion. This reflected a 22.1 per cent year-on-year increase and a performance rate of 102 per cent.
On the other hand, petroleum taxes also performed, hitting Ksh33.408 billion against a target of Ksh30.602 billion, representing a 109.2 per cent performance rate.
Meanwhile, KRA said the improved performance is the result of a series of institutional reforms and innovations aimed at enhancing revenue collection efficiency and transparency that it has been undertaking in recent months, among them the establishment of a central release operations office.
''Notably, the establishment of a central release operations office has played a pivotal role. Under this innovative system, head verification officers operate from a central location and randomly allocate release stations to verify and clear goods,'' KRA said.
Through this system, head verification officers allocate release stations randomly, minimising human contact and opportunities for manipulation.
At the same time, KRA added that the reforms have also tightened loopholes in the customs system, boosting compliance levels and sealing revenue leakages that previously affected performance.
In July this year, despite the economic challenges in the 2024/25 financial year, the taxman recorded a 6.8 per cent growth in its revenue, collecting Ksh2.571 trillion from Kenyans.
In addition to breaking the target, KRA also recorded a performance rate of 100.6 per cent, compared with the Ksh2.407 trillion collected in the last financial year.
