Tax Invoice Management System (TIMS) which is an upgrade of the Electronic Tax Register (ETR) was rolled out by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in August 2021 with the aim to help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Value Added Tax (VAT) administration.
TIMS, which is the engine powering the electronic tax invoice will use tax registers which will merge with the traders’ system and will have the capability to validate invoice data and transmit it to KRA on a real-time basis or near real-time basis.
The transmission will require an internet connection but in case of internet failure the traders will carry through with their operations as verification of the invoice data does not require internet but once the internet is restored, the invoice will be generated automatically and transmitted to KRA.
The key features of the electronic tax invoice is the QR code which will allow one to confirm the validity of the tax invoice, the details in the QR scanned code will include the name of the seller invoice date , invoice date, total invoice amount, total taxable amount and total vat amount
Tax registers will be activated automatically hence there will be no need of taxpayers to present their registers to KRA offices.
In case of any changes in the VAT rates tax registers will be updated automatically over the air updated
All VAT registered taxpayers are required to comply within a period of twelve months, where a failure to comply, one can write to the commissioner for an extension of time which will not exceed six months
KRA is working to ensure that taxpayers are fully supported by the ETR suppliers during the transition
