As such, the government expects every Kenyan citizen above the legal age of 18 years to at some point start paying taxes, provided they have as source of income.

At the heart of this intricate process is the KRA PIN, which is a unique alphanumeric code that’s assigned to all taxpayers.

The PIN is however not just for the employed or those in business, as it’s also necessary in order to access some government services.

For example, students applying for HELB Loans need one as well as jobseekers who are applying for a KRA clearance certificate.

Whichever need is prompting you to get this PIN, the good news is that the process of getting one is free, relatively easy and will only take you a couple of minutes.

This is possible thanks to KRA’s iTax Portal that allows you to apply for the PIN online and
provides access to a dashboard through which you can manage your tax obligation needs, such as filing nil returns.

Here’s how you go about getting your KRA PIN.

1. On your browser, visit the KRA’s iTax Portal.
2. On the left side of the page, you should see a New PIN Registration section with the prompt you Do you want to apply for a PIN? Open the link that’s provided there.
3. That will launch an e-Registration form prompting you to provide the following details:
   • Taxpayer Type – select Individual
   • Mode of Registration – select the Online Form
4. Once done, click the Next button to proceed.
5. The next section will require you to provide your details in the following four forms:
   • A – Basic Information
   • B – Obligation Details
   • C – Source Income Details
   • D – Agent Details

Let’s see how to fill each of them.

Step 2: Form A – Basic Information Form

1. Start by setting your Citizenship to Kenyan.
2. Under Employee’s Profession, provide your career details. If you’re not formally employed, select Others and then define your area of profession or state you’re self-employed, unemployed or a student.
3. Next, provide your National ID number.
4. The remaining fields will be greyed out, so you’ll have to first provide your date of birth (DOB) by selecting it from the pop-up calendar.
5. When you set the correct DOB, the rest of the fields including your ID issue date and issue place, your Names, Sex, Place of Birth and particulars of your Father and Mother will be automatically be filled.
6. Next, provide your Principal Physical Address. This includes details of where you currently reside.
7. Provide your Physical Postal Address.
8. In the Principal Contact Details section, enter your mobile number and your main email address. It’s very important that you provide a valid email address as all future correspondence from iTax will primarily use it, including receiving your first login details.
9. Fill the remaining part of the questions appropriately. These include:
   • Alternative Address or Contact details if you have any
   • Your Bank Account details for tax refunds
   • If you’re a partner, director or trustee of any other entity
   • Tributary Bonds
10. When finished, click Next to proceed to the next form.

NOTE

• When you enter your email address, the system will automatically capitalize it. Don’t be alarmed by this. All emails address (such as those from third-parties like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook etc.) are usually NOT case-sensitive. That is to mean for the email address at yourname@domain.com is equivalent to YOURNAME@DOMAIN.COM
• If you already had a PIN (and probably wasn’t aware), the system will alert you after entering the DOB that a PIN has already been issued to that particular ID number.

In this form you’re expected to specify which type of taxes you’re obliged to pay. Since you’re an individual Kenyan citizen, select the first option: Income Tax Resident.

Beside each option you check select the Registration Date which is simply the date of that day.

Click Next to proceed to the next form

In this form you’re expected to provide details regarding your sources of income. These include:

• Employment Income
• Business Income
• Rental Income

Fill the details as follows:

1. If you’re employed, select Employment income and then provide the PIN number of your employer.
2. If you run a business, select Business Income. This one will require you to provide substantial amount of information regarding your business and in which sector it belongs. If you’ve multiple businesses, you can add them as well.
3. If you’ve rental properties, select Rental Income and provide the necessary details.
4. If you’ve no source of income, for instance if you’re a student or are unemployed, just answer No to all the questions.

Click Next to proceed to the Agent Details form. This last form is not necessary to fill and is only required for those who intend to have authorized Agents to submit applications on their behalf.

Step 5: Generate KRA PIN

1. Double check all the information you’ve provided in all the forms is valid then click the Submit button.
2. You’ll get a message prompting you that the application has been submitted successfully.
3. Your new KRA PIN will be provided along with a link to download the PIN Certificate PDF, which contains a summary of your PIN details. Print it for safe keeping.

Step 6: First Time Login into iTax

Your PIN will now be active, however you won’t be able to log into iTax until the system sends you your first time login details to the email address you’ve registered with.

This is not immediate, and may take about one day for the details to arrive.

The email will contain details of your that time Login ID (your KRA PIN) and a temporary password.

1. Go to the iTax portal and on the sidebar where you’re asked Do you have a PIN?, enter your PIN first and click the Continue button.
2. Next enter the password and just below answer the security question and click the login button.
3. You’ll then be prompted to create a new login password along with a security question and answer which will be required should you at any point forget your password and need to reset it. The password should have a minimum of 8 characters and must contain both upper and lower case letters, digits and special characters (*!@# etc.).
4. Finally, agree to the KRA Policy and click on the submit button to create the password.
5. You’ll then receive an email alerting you that the first time login was successful. This email will also have the security question and its answer, which you can refer to in the future should you forget your password and require resetting it.
6. Your registration will now be complete. You can now proceed to log in iTax at any time using the new password.

PIN Responsibility

Now that you’ve the PIN, you’ve to take note one very important thing: the PIN obliges you to file your returns every year, even if you don’t have any income (students and those unemployed). Failure to do this attracts a hefty fine of ksh. 20,000.

On the other hand, the PIN enables you to apply for a Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC). The more common name for the TCC is a KRA Clearance Certificate and it’s of key importance for those applying for government/county jobs, tenders and for companies.