Kenya capital gains tax calculator: final tax on shares and property
Kenya taxes the net gain on property transfers at a final 15% (5% before 2023). NSE-listed shares are exempt, as are your private residence, land at or below KSh 3,000,000 and agricultural land under 50 acres, and losses carry forward ten years.
Work out the tax on a share, crypto, land or unlisted disposal from your dates and costs. Enter sales by hand or import your exchange CSVs, and the calculator splits multi-parcel sales under FIFO, applies the NSE exemption, the residence and land thresholds and the per-year rate, and shows the arithmetic behind the final figure. Everything stays in your browser.
Rates current as of 2026-09-19, from the Income Tax Act (Cap. 470) as consolidated by Kenya Law.
Current rules
The rates behind the number
The capital gains rate and the exemptions by year
| Tax year | General rate | NSE-listed securities | Private residence | Land at or below KSh 3,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5% | Exempt | Exempt (3 years' continuous occupation) | Exempt |
| 2022 | 5% | Exempt | Exempt (3 years' continuous occupation) | Exempt |
| 2023 | 15% | Exempt (20%/365-day carve-in from 1 July) | Exempt (3 years' continuous occupation) | Exempt |
| 2024 | 15% | Exempt (20%/365-day carve-in) | Exempt (3 years' continuous occupation) | Exempt |
| 2025 | 15% | Exempt (20%/365-day carve-in) | Exempt (3 years' continuous occupation) | Exempt |
| 2026 | 15% | Exempt (20%/365-day carve-in) | Exempt (3 years' continuous occupation) | Exempt |
| 2027 (planning) | 15% | Exempt (20%/365-day carve-in) | Exempt (3 years' continuous occupation) | Exempt |
Rules and exemptions
| Rule | Value |
|---|---|
| Net gain | Transfer value (consideration less transfer costs) less adjusted cost |
| Adjusted cost | Acquisition/construction cost, enhancement and preservation, title defence and acquisition costs, with NO inflation or indexation uplift |
| Securities on a CMA-licensed exchange (NSE) | Exempt: no threshold, allowance or minimum holding period |
| Listed gain where the 20% ownership or 20% property-value test applies | Taxed at the general rate (from 1 July 2023) |
| Unlisted shares, stakes and comparable interests | General rate on the net gain |
| Private residence | Exempt after three years' continuous occupation immediately before the transfer |
| Land transferred by an individual | Exempt where the transfer value is not more than KSh 3,000,000 |
| Agricultural land | Exempt if under 50 acres and outside a municipality, gazetted township or declared urban area |
| Crypto | Section 12F's 3% digital asset tax was repealed from 1 July 2025; the general-CGT reading applies |
| Losses | Offset the year's capital gains, then carry forward up to ten years against capital gains only |
| Final tax | Capital gains tax is not added to your income and cannot be offset against other income taxes |
Tables come from the source records retrieved 2026-09-19; each links back to the authority page above. Crypto has no dedicated rule in force after section 12F’s repeal from 1 July 2025: the calculator applies the general Eighth Schedule reading.
Questions
Kenya capital gains questions
How much is capital gains tax in Kenya?
It is a final tax of 15% of the net gain on transfers from 1 January 2023, and was 5% for the 2021 and 2022 years of income. The Finance Act 2022 raised the rate from 5% to 15% with effect from 1 January 2023, and KRA records that change. The net gain is the transfer value less the adjusted cost, and the tax is not added to your income.
Do I pay capital gains tax on NSE shares?
No. Gains on securities traded on a securities exchange licensed by the Capital Markets Authority, which operates the Nairobi Securities Exchange, are exempt: First Schedule paragraph 74 of the Income Tax Act. There is no threshold, allowance or minimum holding period. The exemption does not cover a share deriving more than 20% of its value from Kenyan immovable property, or shares of a Kenyan company where you held at least 20% at any time in the 365 days before the sale; those are inside CGT from 1 July 2023.
When do I pay capital gains tax in Kenya?
The due date is the earlier of receipt of the full purchase price or registration of the transfer (Eighth Schedule paragraph 11A), and KRA states the tax is payable by the 20th day of the following month on iTax. Form CGT1/1P covers land and buildings, CGT2/2P marketable securities, and CGT3 exempt transactions. The annual individual return for 2025 was due by 30 June 2026, and from the 2026 year of income the deadline moves to 30 April.
What is the capital gains tax rate in Kenya, and when did it change?
Capital gains tax is a final tax on the net gain from transferring property situated in Kenya. For the 2026 year of income the rate is 15% of the net gain, charged under paragraph 14 of Head B of the Third Schedule to the Income Tax Act (Cap. 470), which states that the rate of tax in respect of capital gains charged under section 3(2)(f) 'shall be fifteen per cent which shall be a final tax'. The rate was raised from 5% with effect from 1 January 2023 by the Finance Act 2022; KRA's capital gains guidance and FAQ record the increase from 5% to 15% effective 1 January 2023. The only reduced rate is 5%, and only for a firm certified by the Nairobi International Financial Centre Authority that has invested at least KSh 3 billion in at least one entity incorporated or registered in Kenya within two years and transfers the investment after five years (proviso to paragraph 14). Sources: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/1973/16/eng%402026-01-01/source and https://www.kra.go.ke/component/kra_faq/faqcategory/52
How is the net gain worked out, and is the cost indexed for inflation?
Net gain = transfer value less adjusted cost (Eighth Schedule, paragraphs 4, 7 and 8). Transfer value is the amount or value of the consideration or compensation for the transfer less the incidental costs to the transferor of making the transfer (paragraphs 7(1) and 7(2)). Adjusted cost is the consideration for the acquisition or construction of the property, expenditure wholly and exclusively incurred to enhance or preserve its value, expenditure establishing, preserving or defending title to the property, and the incidental costs of acquiring it, reduced by any amounts already allowed as deductions under section 15(2) (paragraphs 8(1) and 8(2)). THE ACT PROVIDES NO INFLATION ADJUSTMENT, indexation allowance or revaluation of the adjusted cost, so this calculator uses the nominal cost. Where the cost of acquisition cannot be proved, the acquisition consideration is deemed to be the market value at acquisition or the consideration used for stamp duty, whichever is the lesser (paragraph 9(1)(b)); a missing cost basis is therefore not the same as a zero cost. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/1973/16/eng%402026-01-01/source
Which share disposals are exempt or taxed?
Gains on the transfer of securities traded on any securities exchange licensed by the Capital Markets Authority, which operates the Nairobi Securities Exchange, are not chargeable to tax under section 3(2)(f) (First Schedule, paragraph 74, inserted by the Finance Act 2025; the same exemption appeared in Head B before 2025, and KRA's capital gains guidance states that the transfer of securities listed and traded on the Nairobi Stock Exchange is not chargeable to tax). The exemption carries NO monetary threshold or allowance and no minimum holding period. It does not reach: (i) a share or comparable interest, including an interest in a partnership or trust, that derived more than 20% of its value directly or indirectly from immovable property situated in Kenya at any time during the 365 days preceding the alienation; or (ii) shares of a company resident in Kenya where the alienator held directly or indirectly at least 20% of the capital of that company at any time during the 365 days preceding the alienation (Eighth Schedule, paragraph 2(b) and (c), inserted by the Finance Act 2023 with effect from 1 July 2023). Sources: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/1973/16/eng%402026-01-01/source and https://www.kra.go.ke/individual/filing-paying/types-of-taxes/capital-gains-tax
Which property sales are exempt?
An individual's land and buildings in Kenya are property within the Eighth Schedule and a non-exempt transfer is taxed at the general rate. Exemptions: a private residence the individual owner has occupied continuously for the three-year period immediately before the transfer, subject to the provisos on temporary absence, the immediately surrounding land used for personal purposes, one residence at a time, spouses living together, and part-business use (First Schedule, paragraph 36(c)); land transferred by an individual where the transfer value is not more than KSh 3,000,000 (paragraph 36(d)(i)); and agricultural property of less than fifty acres situated outside a municipality, gazetted township or an area declared by the Cabinet Secretary to be an urban area (paragraph 36(d)(ii)). Transfers between spouses, between former spouses on divorce or a bona fide separation, to immediate family, and to a company wholly held by the individual, spouses or a spouse and immediate family are not transfers for CGT purposes (Eighth Schedule, paragraph 6(2)(h)); and an estate-administration transfer or sale completed within two years of death is exempt (First Schedule, paragraph 36(f)). Sources: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/1973/16/eng%402026-01-01/source and https://www.kra.go.ke/images/publications/Capital-Gains-Tax--Guidelines--2018-2-1.pdf
How is crypto taxed in Kenya?
Crypto: the Finance Act 2023 inserted section 12F of the Income Tax Act, a digital asset tax on income from the transfer or exchange of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, at 3% of the transfer or exchange value, to be deducted and remitted by the platform or facilitator. The Finance Act 2025 repealed section 12F with effect from 1 July 2025. No dedicated crypto capital-gains rule is in force after the repeal, so the treatment of an individual's investment-crypto disposal under the general Eighth Schedule is provisional; this calculator taxes a crypto gain at the year's general rate on that provisional reading and says so in its copy. Sources: https://www.kra.go.ke/individual/filing-paying/types-of-taxes/capital-gains-tax and https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/2025/9/eng%402025-06-25/source
How do capital losses work?
Losses: a capital loss is deductible against capital gains in the year of income in which it is incurred and, if not exhausted, is carried forward against capital gains in subsequent years, for a maximum of ten years according to KRA's Capital Gains Tax Guidelines; it is never set against salary, business or other ordinary income. The Act's specific provision, section 15(3)(f), which confined a section 3(2)(f) loss to gains under the same head, was deleted by the Finance Act 2025 with effect from 1 July 2025, so the treatment of losses on transfers from that date rests on the general law and KRA's guidance; this calculator applies same-year netting and a carry-forward the user tracks within the ten-year window, and never against ordinary income (flagged gap). Source: https://www.kra.go.ke/images/publications/Capital-Gains-Tax--Guidelines--2018-2-1.pdf
When are the return and the tax due?
Filing and payment: the due date for tax on a property transfer is the earlier of receipt of the full purchase price by the vendor or registration of the transfer (Eighth Schedule, paragraph 11A), and KRA's guidance states that the tax is payable by the 20th day of the month following the transfer, declared on iTax. Form CGT1/1P is used for land and buildings, CGT2/2P for marketable securities, and CGT3 to declare exempt or excluded transactions. The individual annual return for the 2025 year of income was due by 30 June 2026; from the 2026 year of income, filed in 2027, KRA moves individual filing to the last day of the fourth month after the year end, 30 April. Sources: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/1973/16/eng%402026-01-01/source and https://www.kra.go.ke/individual/filing-paying/types-of-taxes/capital-gains-tax