KRA Proposes Tiered Income Tax Relief for Persons With Disabilities

The Kenya Revenue Authority has published draft regulations proposing a tiered income tax exemption for persons with disabilities, together with a separate monthly relief for parents and guardians who care for them full time. Under the draft Income Tax (Persons With Disabilities, Parents or Guardians Tax Exemptions) Regulations, 2026, a registered person with a disability could earn up to KSh 150,000 a month — KSh 1.8 million a year — free of income tax. The relief would be scaled according to the assessed severity of the disability rather than granted as a flat exemption. A person who is completely blind would receive the full monthly amount. Severe visual impairment would attract 60 per cent of the relief, while moderate visual impairment would qualify for 30 per cent. Hearing loss would be treated on a separate scale, with moderate to severe hearing loss qualifying for half of the exemption. Comparable tiers would apply to speech, physical, mental and autism-related disabilities. People assessed with mild disabilities would not qualify for any exemption under the proposed framework. Parents and guardians fully caring for a severely disabled person would receive an additional KSh 10,000 monthly exemption against their own income, separate from the amount available under the main relief. The proposals draw on the Persons With Disabilities Act, 2025 and remain open for public comment before the regulations are finalised and gazetted, leaving the amounts and tiers subject to change. Several points are not addressed in the report on the draft. It does not indicate when the exemptions would take effect if approved, whether the relief would cover all income types or only employment income, or what counts as a mild disability. KRA has separately announced a change to the individual income tax filing calendar. The deadline for annual returns moves from June 30 to April 30, meaning 2026 returns must be filed by 30 April 2027. The authority has said taxpayers who miss the deadline face a KSh 2,000 penalty, and those without taxable income are still required to submit nil returns. The post KRA Proposes Tiered Income Tax Relief for Persons With Disabilities appeared first on Nairobi Wire .