Guides for landlords · Soma kwa Kiswahili

KRA rental income tax (MRI) for landlords in Kenya: how to work it out, file and pay

Updated 31 Oct 2026

In short: if you let out homes in Kenya and receive between KES 288,000 and KES 15 million in rent a year, you pay Monthly Rental Income (MRI) tax of 7.5% of the rent you actually received each month. You file and pay it on iTax by the 20th of the next month.

Who pays MRI

Residential rent only. Houses, flats, bedsitters and single rooms let to people to live in.
KES 288,000 to 15 million a year (about KES 24,000 to 1.25 million a month). Below that, MRI doesn't apply. Above it, rent is taxed through your normal annual income tax return instead.
Shops and offices are different. Commercial rent goes in your annual income tax return, where you can deduct expenses.

How to work it out

MRI is a simple flat tax: 7.5% of the gross rent received in the month. You can't deduct repairs, the caretaker's pay or other expenses; that's the trade-off for the low rate.

Count rent actually received, not rent owed. If a tenant pays March's rent in April, it counts in April.
Deposits aren't rent, until you use a deposit to cover rent.
Example: 10 bedsitters at KES 10,000 each, all paid in March. Rent received is KES 100,000, so MRI is KES 7,500, due by 20 April.

How to file and pay on iTax

Check your PIN has the rental income obligation. On itax.kra.go.ke, if Monthly Rental Income isn't among your tax obligations, add it under Registration → Amend PIN details.
File the return: Returns → File Return, choose Income Tax – Rent Income (MRI) and the month, enter each property and the rent received, and submit. Keep the acknowledgement receipt.
Get a payment slip: Payments → Payment Registration, choose Income Tax and Monthly Rental Income, and generate the slip. It has a payment reference number (PRN).
Pay: by M-Pesa to KRA's Paybill 222222, with the PRN as the account number, or at a bank.

No rent received in a month? File a nil return, so the month isn't counted as missed.

Paying late

Late filing and late payment each attract penalties, and unpaid tax earns interest every month (currently a late-filing penalty of the higher of KES 2,000 or 5% of the tax, plus 1% interest a month). File on time even if you can't pay in full yet.

Keep records

KRA can ask how you got your figures. Keep a record of every rent payment (receipts, M-Pesa statements) and every month's return for at least five years.

Rentipay works out your MRI for you. Every rent payment is recorded as it comes in (by M-Pesa or cash). Reports → KRA rental tax shows each month's rent received, the 7.5% to pay and the due date, and we remind you on the 15th.

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This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Laws and KRA rules change: check with an advocate or tax adviser for your situation.