If your business turns over between KES 1 million and KES 25 million a year, KRA's default regime for you is turnover tax (TOT): a flat 1.5% of gross sales, filed and paid monthly. It is beautifully simple — and for some businesses, quietly expensive. Here is how to tell which side you are on.
How turnover tax works
- Rate: 1.5% of gross monthly sales — before any expenses are deducted.
- It is a final tax: no expense deductions, no year-end income tax return on that income.
- Filing: monthly, on or before the 20th of the following month, on iTax.
- Nil returns: required even in a month with no sales.
Who cannot use it
TOT is not available for rental income, management, professional or training fees, income already subject to final withholding tax (like dividends and interest), or non-residents. And once annual turnover crosses KES 25 million, you move to the regular regime whether you like it or not.
Crossing KES 5 million in taxable supplies makes VAT registration mandatory even while you remain on TOT. One does not exempt you from the other — see our guide to the KES 5 million VAT threshold.
The margin math: 1.5% of sales vs tax on profit
Under the regular regime, a company pays 30% of profit; under TOT you pay 1.5% of sales. The crossover sits at roughly a 5% net margin: 30% × 5% margin = 1.5% of sales. Above that margin, TOT is the cheaper regime; below it, the regular regime usually wins — if your books can prove the margin.
| Business (KES 10M annual sales) | TOT payable | Regular regime (company) |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy 15% margin (KES 1.5M profit) | KES 150,000 | KES 450,000 |
| Thin 3% margin (KES 300K profit) | KES 150,000 | KES 90,000 |
| Loss-making year | KES 150,000 | Nil |
That last row is the trap: TOT is payable even when you make a loss, because it never looks at your costs. A distributor on wafer-thin margins or a business in a rough patch can pay real money on phantom profit.
You can choose — in writing
A business within the TOT band can elect, by notice to the Commissioner, to be taxed under the regular regime instead. The price of that choice is proper books: income tax on profit only works if your expenses are documented — which, since 2024, means eTIMS invoices behind them. High-margin businesses with simple records generally belong on TOT; thin-margin businesses with good books generally belong on the regular regime.
Decide it once a year
- Work out your true net margin from last year's numbers.
- Above ~5% and records are thin? Stay on TOT and file religiously by the 20th.
- Below ~5%, or loss-making? Talk to an accountant about electing out — the saving usually pays the accounting fee.
- Watch the KES 5M VAT line and the KES 25M TOT ceiling as you grow.
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