KE · published payroll rules

Kenya monthly PAYE calculator · 2026 reference

Calculate ordinary monthly PAYE from taxable pay after allowable deductions, with precise published bands, resident relief choices and a dated breakdown.

2026 calculation reference; sources reviewed 2026-10-25. This is not a live payroll assessment.

Enter pay after allowable deductions. This is not gross salary or take-home pay. Housing levy, SHIF, pension, mortgage and other deductions must already be established.
Claim personal relief through one employer only. Choose “Do not apply it here” if another employer applies it.
Optional relief: enter zero if none. Only eligible life/health/education premiums; qualifying education policies need at least ten years’ maturity. Do not include SHIF, which belongs in the taxable-pay deductions.

Published rules and scope

Precise monthly KRA iTax implementation bands
Taxable-pay band · KESMarginal rate
0.00 to 24000.0010%
24000.00 to 32333.3325%
32333.33 to 500000.0030%
500000.00 to 800000.0032.5%
800000.00 to no upper limit35%

The current summary page rounds the second and third band widths. This tool uses the implementation publication’s 8,333.33 and 467,666.67 widths. Rates are those published as effective 1 July 2023 and still present on the current KRA page when reviewed.

Resident personal relief is KES 2,400 per month. Eligible resident insurance relief is 15% of the entered qualifying premium, limited to KES 5,000 per month and the remaining tax. Nonresidents receive no personal relief here. Reliefs cannot create a negative tax.

The older employer guide is used only for the monthly insurance cap and main-employer rule, corroborated by the current annual cap. Its old personal-relief amounts are not used. This is ordinary monthly PAYE from taxable pay; non-cash benefit valuation, special exemptions, annual reconciliation, NSSF/SHIF and housing-levy calculation, other income and full take-home pay remain outside this tool.

Results preserve the payroll month, user-selected basis, review date and source links. Exact arithmetic is shown alongside a two-decimal display. The rounding display is not a claim about statutory filing precision. Editing any input invalidates the previous calculation and its exports.

The edition covers scenarios in 2026. Its source-review window ends on 31 December 2026; that is an editorial review boundary, not a claim that the underlying law expires then. Archived calculations retain the dated source note.

Sources

Selected numerical rules and definitions are attributed to the Kenya Revenue Authority. Contifield supplies the calculations and presentation; no authority endorsement is claimed.