Excise duty
Duty charged on specified goods and services, including alcoholic drinks and certain financial and telecommunication services.
Also called
You will also see this written as excise. Kenyan businesses use these interchangeably in conversation even where the underlying things differ, which is worth knowing when someone tells you what you need.
Where you meet this
Excise applies to specified goods and services, which for most traders means alcoholic drinks and certain financial and telecommunication charges. For a liquor store or a bar the relevance is mostly on the buying side, since distributors issue tax invoices for excisable stock and those purchase records attract closer attention than most.
What it sits alongside
In Kenyan business records excise duty sits alongside Kenya Revenue Authority and VAT. The pages for each explain how they connect.
Related terms
Common questions
What does Excise duty mean in Kenya?
Duty charged on specified goods and services, including alcoholic drinks and certain financial and telecommunication services.
Is Excise duty the same as excise?
In everyday use Kenyan businesses treat these as the same thing. Duty charged on specified goods and services, including alcoholic drinks and certain financial and telecommunication services.
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.
Sources
- officialKenya Revenue Authority — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18