The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on Wednesday declared a penalty waiver for Non-VAT registered businesses to allow them more time to onboard onto the Electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS) platform and process electronic invoices.
In its statement, KRA announced that this category of businesses onboarding on the eTIMS platform will have up to 31st March 2024 and will be allowed to do so without incurring any penalties.
“To facilitate business continuity and allow for sufficient time for taxpayers to make adjustments in their systems and business operations, KRA wishes to notify non-VAT registered taxpayers that onboarding to the eTIMS platform will be available up to 31st March 2024.”
“During the onboarding period, penalties provided in law for failure to issue electronic tax invoices will not be imposed on the non-VAT registered taxpayers”, the statement read.
The shift will facilitate the said businesses to progressively capture manually generated invoices and receipts onto the KRA system as directed in an earlier directive.
“We would like to remind the public that starting September 1, 2023, all businesses, including those not registered for VAT, must electronically generate and transmit their invoices to KRA through the eTIMS platform.”, KRA communicated at the time.
KRA has been looking to ensure that this category of businesses transmits their invoices through eTIMS beginning January 1, 2024.
The eTIMS is a platform that enables businesses to provide electronic invoices through multiple channels and in real time.
The new platform is described to be efficient and cost-effective as it will allow businesses to use mobile applications and an online portal without any extra charges.
KRA announced migration to the new platform in February 2023 stating that the online portal will facilitate the real-time filing of invoices.
Meanwhile, the mobile application will provide another avenue for issuing tax invoices.
KRA has also been organising webinars to educate Kenyans on how to go about the ongoing onboarding process
