Kenya Withholding tax rates
Kenya Withholding tax rates: no single figure applies. The 4 withholding taxes held run from 15% to 20%, cited to KRA. Last checked against the official source on 10 Aug 2026.
Official source: KRA · Last checked 2026-08-10 · source fingerprint
The withholding taxes Kenya levies on payments to non-resident persons without a permanent establishment - dividends, interest, royalties and management/professional/training fees - each at its domestic statutory rate under the Income Tax Act (Cap 470) Third Schedule, before any double-tax agreement relief. Administered by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA); withholding tax on payments to non-residents is a final tax.
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| Current value | 15–20% across 4 withholding taxes — no single rate |
|---|---|
| In force from | — |
| Official source | KRA - Withholding Tax (rates table for non-resident persons): dividends 15%; interest (bank) 15%; interest on other bearer instruments 25%; royalties/natural resource income 20%; management fees 20%; professional fees 20%; training fees 20%; consultancy and agency 20%; contractual 20%. 'The payer of any of the above incomes is responsible for deducting tax at source from payments made and remitting the deducted tax to KRA.' |
| Last verified | 2026-08-10 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
THERE IS NO SINGLE WITHHOLDING TAX RATE, WHICH IS WHY value IS NULL. Kenya rates each head of payment separately - and interest alone carries four different rates by instrument type. A caller wanting a number must name which payment type; read withholding_rates rather than expecting a headline figure. ALL RATES ARE DOMESTIC STATUTORY RATES, BEFORE TREATY RELIEF. Kenya's double-tax agreements (UK, India, UAE, South Africa, France, Germany, Canada and others) can reduce these rates, and domestic exemptions exist - notably payments by Special Economic Zone entities to non-residents in their first ten years, and interest to financial institutions listed in the Fourth Schedule. We do NOT serve treaty rates: they are bilateral and applying one is a legal determination rather than a lookup. NO SERIES EFFECTIVE DATE IS ASSERTED: the KRA rate page states current rates without commencement dates, and we do not supply dates from memory. The legal basis is s.35 and Head B of the Third Schedule, Income Tax Act (Cap 470), as amended by successive Finance Acts. Rates verified against KRA's own table and cross-checked against PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (last reviewed 17 July 2026), which agree on every head served here. WHT on payments to non-residents is a FINAL tax. Kenya also withholds on non-resident rent (30% immovable property / 15% other than aircraft), entertainers (20%), insurance commissions (20%), telecommunication services (5%), digital content monetisation (20%) and gains from financial derivatives (15%) - outside the four heads served, see the KRA table.
Get it programmatically
curl https://afriref.dev/v1/ke/withholding-tax
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# History: curl https://afriref.dev/v1/ke/withholding-tax/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://afriref.dev/provenance/ke/withholding-taxOther Kenya series: CBK central bank rate · Statutory late-payment interest · VAT standard rate · Minimum wage (lowest general-order rate) · Public holidays · CPI inflation (year-on-year) · Corporate income tax rate · Personal income tax brackets · CBK indicative exchange rates (trade-weighted average) · Statutory payroll contributions (employee) · VAT registration threshold
The same figure elsewhere: Lesotho · Mali · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique · all 34