Do Uber drivers and car owners pay tax in Kenya? (2026 guide)

Yes. Money earned from ride-hailing is taxable — for the driver who takes the fares and for the owner who is paid the daily amount — and since 2026 KRA can see much more of it. This guide covers what applies to each of you. It is a plain-language guide, not tax advice: your accountant or KRA has the last word on your situation.

KRA can see the earnings now

In January 2026 KRA directed ride-hailing drivers to upload a valid KRA PIN certificate in the Uber app by 30 January 2026, warning that drivers who did not could lose access to the platform. KRA estimated more than 50,000 drivers were affected. The apps share drivers' earnings with KRA, so undeclared income is no longer invisible.

For the driver

KRA treats ride-hailing drivers as self-employed: the money from the apps is business income. Depending on how much it is, a driver files either:

• Turnover tax (TOT) — 1.5% of gross turnover, filed monthly on iTax by the 20th — if his annual turnover is between KSh 1 million and KSh 25 million, or
• Ordinary income tax on his profit (income less allowable expenses such as commission and fuel) if he is outside that band or chooses to opt out of TOT.

A full-time driver can easily pass KSh 1 million a year in fares, so turnover tax is the one most drivers meet. How his receipts are counted — gross fares or what reaches him after commission — is a question to put to an accountant or KRA.

For the car owner

What your drivers pay you is your turnover.

• One car at KSh 1,500 a day, 26 days a month, is about KSh 468,000 a year — below the turnover tax band, so ordinary income tax applies to your profit, through your annual return.
• Three cars at the same rate come to about KSh 1.4 million — inside the band, so turnover tax at 1.5%, about KSh 1,750 a month, unless you opt out and pay income tax on profit instead.

Opting out can make sense in a car's first years, when loan interest, insurance and depreciation leave little profit — turnover tax is charged on takings, whatever they cost you to earn. Work out your numbers with the turnover tax calculator.

Advance tax on every car

The registered owner of a commercial vehicle pays advance tax every year by 20 January. For saloons and station wagons it is KSh 100 per passenger seat a month, with a minimum of KSh 5,000 a year — so KSh 5,000 for a typical four-seat taxi. It is not a final tax: you declare it in your income tax return.

KRA says proof of advance tax is required before a commercial vehicle can be registered, transferred, licensed or inspected — so an unpaid advance tax can hold up the yearly NTSA inspection a car on Uber needs. See the NTSA inspection guide.

VAT and the apps

In October 2025 the High Court ruled, in KRA's case against the delivery platform Sendy, that a platform which sets prices, approves the work and collects the money is supplying the service itself — and owes 16% VAT on the full amount customers pay, not just its commission. The ruling applies to platforms that operate that way; how each ride-hailing app responds is for them. Owners should watch the commission and fare changes that follow.

Keep the records KRA will ask for

Whatever you file, the records are what make it easy: what each car earned each day, what was paid, and what the car cost you. Gariboss keeps that record for every car — every payment matched to the day it was owed for.