Key insights into Kenya’s 2026 Finance Bill pertaining to the Excise Duty Act. Education is key, and context is important, especially in this age of misinformation. The Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, Hon. Kuria Kimani, explains to stakeholders the provisions of the #FinanceBill2026 seeking to amend Section 36 of the Excise Duty Act to require that the 25 percent excise be paid to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) by the time of activation rather than at importation or removal from the factory.
Hey, here’s a quick and simple breakdown of what that means for phones. Right now, importers and manufacturers get hit with a 25% excise duty the moment a phone enters Kenya or comes off the production line, even if it sits in a warehouse for months unsold. That’s tough on their cash flow. The new proposal changes that.
Under the Finance Bill 2026, the 25% tax will now only kick in when the phone is actually activated on a network (the day you pop in your SIM and start using it). So businesses only pay the Kenya Revenue Authority once the phone is sold and in someone’s hands.It’s a small but clever tweak that makes life easier for phone sellers, helps keep prices from shooting up, and still ensures the government gets its revenue just a little later.This change kicks in January 2027 and will need some new tracking between telecom companies and KRA, but the idea is pretty straightforward: tax the phone when it’s actually being used, not while it’s still in the box.
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