The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced that it exceeded its customs revenue target for the financial year 2025/26, collecting Ksh988.8 billion.
In a statement on Wednesday, July 29, the authority said its Customs Department outperformed its revenue target during the financial year, posting collections above the projected amount.
"Customs Revenue surpassed its target by recording a performance rate of 100.8% with a collection of Ksh988.780 billion against a target of Ksh980.794 billion," the statement read.
According to KRA, the achievement was supported by several operational improvements, including enhanced compliance initiatives, increased cargo volumes, technology-driven processes, stronger risk management systems, and closer collaboration with stakeholders.
"The FY 2025/26 achievement was driven by enhanced compliance initiatives, increased cargo volumes, technology-driven processes, improved risk management, and stronger collaboration with stakeholders," the statement added.
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KRA further noted that the customs revenue performance was underpinned by strong collections from both oil and non-oil revenue streams, which together accounted for the total customs revenue recorded during the period.
"Customs revenue collection is attributed to the good performance of oil and non-oil revenue streams, which collected Ksh370.383 billion and Ksh618.397 billion respectively," the statement further read.
According to KRA, among the initiatives credited with driving the strong performance was the rollout of the eCustoms Mobile Application, which is designed to reduce the cost of compliance while making customs and tax services more accessible, convenient, and user-friendly for cross-border traders.
The authority also said the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programme continued to deliver strategic benefits by promoting compliant trade, while upgrades to the Integrated Customs Management System (iCMS) architecture improved operational efficiency and overall system performance.
Additionally, KRA revealed that Customs signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India's Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to facilitate the real-time exchange of Pre-Arrival Information.
This comes weeks after KRA announced the removal of excise duty on bottled water following changes introduced under the Finance Act, 2026.
In a notice on Monday, July 6, the agency said the amendment took effect on July 1.
KRA confirmed that the removal of the tax also eliminates the requirement for excise stamps on bottled water produced or imported from the effective date.
"Bottled water manufactured or imported on or after this date will not be subject to excise duty and will not require to be affixed with excise stamps," the notice read.
KRA stated that it will soon provide guidance on how businesses should handle unused excise stamps following the tax change.
"The Commissioner will issue detailed guidelines on the return of unutilized stamps and the decommissioning of digital stamps, which will be published on the official KRA website," the notice added.
Despite the removal of the excise duty, KRA reminded manufacturers that they are still required to comply with their tax obligations for the period before the amendment came into force.
"Manufacturers are reminded of their obligation to submit their Excise Duty Returns for the month of June 2026 and pay the taxes due by 20th July, 2026," the notice further read.
