The short answer
Whether a business in this trade has to issue eTIMS invoices follows from the rules that apply to any Kenyan business, not from the trade itself; the rules on who must comply are what decide it. What the trade changes is the shape of the job. Importers sit between customs documentation and domestic tax invoicing, and the two have to line up. Domestic sales to wholesalers and retailers are invoice trade where the customer PIN and correct VAT treatment determine whether the buyer can claim the purchase.
A business bringing goods into Kenya for resale, dealing with customs clearance alongside domestic tax obligations.
How stock behaves in this trade
Consignments arriving in large, infrequent batches with long lead times, where landed cost includes duty, VAT at import, clearing and transport, and mispricing against that landed cost destroys the margin. The usual lines are imported goods for resale, bulk consignments to wholesalers and direct supply to large retailers.
What invoicing actually looks like here
Importers sit between customs documentation and domestic tax invoicing, and the two have to line up. Domestic sales to wholesalers and retailers are invoice trade where the customer PIN and correct VAT treatment determine whether the buyer can claim the purchase.
What tends to go wrong
- Landed cost not properly computed per unit
- Long lead times against uncertain demand
- Demurrage and clearing delays
- Import VAT and duty documentation
Customers here usually pay by bank transfer and letters of credit and m-pesa on the domestic sale side.
How customers pay in this trade
Payment in a importer usually comes through bank transfer and letters of credit and m-pesa on the domestic sale side. That mix decides how hard reconciliation is: every separate channel is a separate record that has to agree with the sales it paid for, and the trades that struggle most are the ones running three or four at once without anything joining them up.
Compliance angles that apply to this trade
- vat registration
- import vat
- customs documentation
- invoice contents
- customer pin
What the rules say
This page explains how a requirement generally works. It is not tax advice, and it cannot account for the specifics of any one business. For a position you intend to rely on, confirm with KRA directly or with a registered tax agent.
Tax rules in Kenya change with each Finance Act and with regulations made during the year. Before acting on any figure, deadline or threshold, check the current position on KRA's own website.
What we are not stating here. Some of the specific requirements relating to this topic have not yet been verified against their primary source by our reviewer, so they are withheld from this page rather than stated from memory. That means you will not find a threshold, rate, deadline or penalty figure below. For those, check KRA directly. Everything else on this page explains how the mechanism works and is not affected.
Common questions
Does a importer need to issue a tax invoice for every sale?
Importers sit between customs documentation and domestic tax invoicing, and the two have to line up. Domestic sales to wholesalers and retailers are invoice trade where the customer PIN and correct VAT treatment determine whether the buyer can claim the purchase.
What usually goes wrong with records in a importer?
The recurring problems in this trade are landed cost not properly computed per unit; long lead times against uncertain demand; demurrage and clearing delays; import vat and duty documentation. Each of them shows up in the records before it shows up in the bank balance.
How should a importer keep stock records?
Consignments arriving in large, infrequent batches with long lead times, where landed cost includes duty, VAT at import, clearing and transport, and mispricing against that landed cost destroys the margin. Records that do not reflect that pattern will not tell you anything useful, whatever system produces them.
How do I know this information is current?
Tax rules in Kenya change with each Finance Act and with regulations made during the year. Before acting on any figure, deadline or threshold, check the current position on KRA's own website.
More for importers
- Who must comply for importers
- Registering for eTIMS for importers
- Choosing an eTIMS channel for importers
- Issuing an eTIMS invoice for importers
- Credit and debit notes for importers
- Expenses and deductibility for importers
- Working offline for importers
- Records and audit for importers
- VAT registration for importers
- Turnover Tax for importers
- What eTIMS costs for importers
- Stock and inventory control for importers
- M-Pesa reconciliation for importers
- Staff and shrinkage for importers
- Choosing a POS system for importers
- Pricing and margin for importers
- Suppliers and purchase records for importers
Related trades
Where importers cluster
Importers are a named sector in 2 of the towns covered here.
Sources
- officialeTIMS (Electronic Tax Invoice Management System) — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18
- officialValue Added Tax Act, 2013 (Act No. 35 of 2013) — National Council for Law Reporting (Kenya Law), checked 2026-09-18
- officialKenya Revenue Authority — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18