The Kenya Revenue Authority has officially declined to extend the timelines for the filing of income tax returns for the year of income 2025, despite complaints from some taxpayers claiming that they were not able to log into the online filing platform, iTax.
“No extension of the filing deadline will be granted. Taxpayers who fail to file their 2025 Income Tax Returns by the due date will be liable to the applicable penalties and may be subject to default assessment in accordance with the law,” read the public notice.
In a public notice, KRA encouraged Kenyans to file their yearly tax returns before midnight on June 30, 2026, to avoid penalties resulting from late filings.
“All PIN holders with an Income Tax obligation who are yet to file their 2025 Income Tax Returns are reminded to do so immediately and avoid the last-minute rush before the filing deadline of midnight, Tuesday, June 30, 2026,” read the KRA public notice.
Numerous taxpayers raised concerns stating that they struggled with submitting their applications through the taxman’s online filing platform, iTax, ahead of the June 30, 2026 deadline issued by KRA via a public notice. KRA officials attributed the problem to high traffic on the platform resulting in occasional server lag.
Other complaints were from taxpayers who encountered error messages and broken links when trying to access the portal, leaving others frustrated, with some fearing that they would miss the stated deadline.
The managing partner and head of tax at Ichiban Tax & Business Advisory LLP, Robert Waruiru, estimates that the Finance Act, 2026, partly tried to address the issue by staggering the tax return filing period so that all A PIN holders file by April 30 and P PIN holders file by June 30. He added that a long-term solution would be a major upgrade of the iTax system.
“Whilst this may help, if one considers the PIN registration profile, I think we will likely still have a problem. Of the 22.3 million registered PINs, assuming only 20 percent P PINs, it means we will still have heavy traffic in April next year,” said Waruiru.
“The long-term solution is a major upgrade of iTax, which, as you know, is about 11 years old,” he added.
Others appealed to KRA to extend the filing deadline and on social media, screenshots showing failed portal access were also posted by some individuals.
– Daisy Achieng
