The short answer
Usually the wrong PIN rather than a wrong digit: a personal PIN where the business PIN belongs, or a PIN for an entity the business no longer trades as.
What this usually means
Our reading, not a rule. Nothing below is a statement of what KRA requires.
A PIN being rejected is rarely about the digits. It is usually about which PIN, or about what that PIN is registered for.
What to suspect first
Our reading, not a rule. Nothing below is a statement of what KRA requires.
- A personal PIN used where the business PIN belongs, which is extremely common in sole proprietorships where both feel like "mine"
- A PIN for a business that has since changed structure, so the trading entity and the registered one are no longer the same thing
- Transcription: a PIN copied from a document that was itself wrong
- A buyer's PIN captured at the counter under time pressure and never checked
What you can check yourself
Our reading, not a rule. Nothing below is a statement of what KRA requires.
- Read the PIN off the taxpayer record rather than off a letterhead, an invoice or memory.
- Establish whether the business trades under the same entity the PIN belongs to.
- If this is a buyer's PIN rather than yours, capture it at the time of the sale rather than reconstructing it later. Reconstruction mostly does not happen.
- Check character by character. A transposed pair is invisible when you already know what it should say.
When to stop and contact KRA. If the PIN is right and still refused, the question is about the record behind it, which only KRA can see.
What the rules say
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.
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.
Common questions
Why is eTIMS not accepting my KRA PIN?
Usually the wrong PIN rather than a wrong digit: a personal PIN where the business PIN belongs, or a PIN for an entity the business no longer trades as.
What should I check first when etims will not accept the pin?
Read the PIN off the taxpayer record rather than off a letterhead, an invoice or memory.
Can you tell me the exact steps to fix it?
Not for anything inside KRA's own software, no. We do not publish click-paths through screens we have not seen documented, because a confident wrong instruction sends you to fix the wrong thing while you are already stuck. What we can do is narrow the cause and tell you when to contact KRA.
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.
Related problems
Sources
- officialiTax portal — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18
- officialeTIMS (Electronic Tax Invoice Management System) — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18
- officialKenya Revenue Authority — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18