eTIMS for Law Firms in Kenya: The Complete 2026 Guide

A law firm bills professional fees, often large and to business clients, plus disbursements it incurs on a client's behalf (court fees, search fees, courier). The distinction between fees, which are the firm's taxable service, and disbursements, which are passed through, is central to invoicing a legal practice correctly.

Because clients are frequently businesses, the firm's invoices need to carry the client KRA PIN so they can claim the cost, and professional fees commonly attract withholding tax, which the client deducts and remits. The firm's invoice has to support all of this cleanly.

VAT and withholding tax for a law firm. Legal and professional services are standard-rated for VAT, so a VAT-registered firm charges VAT on fees and shows it on the eTIMS invoice. Professional fees also commonly fall under withholding tax, where the paying client deducts a percentage and remits it to KRA, claiming it against the firm's tax. The invoice must present the fee, VAT and the basis for any withholding clearly.

Disbursements that are genuine pass-through costs are treated differently from fees. Set your billing so fees, VAT and disbursements are distinct, and confirm the current VAT and withholding rules with KRA.

Running a law firm brings its own compliance demands. The specific ones that matter for eTIMS are:

- Fees are the firm's taxable service; disbursements are pass-through costs

- Business clients need the firm's invoice to carry their KRA PIN

- Professional fees commonly attract withholding tax the client deducts

Get these right and eTIMS runs quietly in the background of your law firm. Get them wrong and you face rejected invoices, disallowed expenses for your customers, and exposure during a KRA review.

Deadlines and penalties for law firms: KRA has phased eTIMS in, and from 2026 the income-validation rules mean an expense not supported by a compliant invoice can be disallowed. For a law firm that cuts both ways. Your own purchases need compliant supplier invoices to be deductible, and your customers need a compliant invoice from you to claim what they spend with you. Non-compliance can attract penalties under the Tax Procedures Act, disallowed input VAT, and lost business from customers who insist on a valid invoice.

There is no separate eTIMS deadline that singles out law firms. The practical answer is that you should already be issuing compliant invoices, because the cost of not doing so, in penalties and lost deductible expenses, grows the longer you wait. Confirm the current deadlines and penalty amounts with KRA, as they change.

What a law firm needs to be eTIMS-ready:

- An active KRA PIN and the correct tax registration for your turnover

- Every product or service mapped to its correct tax treatment

- A reliable way to capture the buyer KRA PIN for business customers

- A compliant system that issues invoices, works offline, and reconciles M-Pesa, so compliance happens as you trade

Record-keeping is the other half of the job. Beyond issuing invoices, a law firm should keep its eTIMS records, and the supplier invoices behind its own purchases, organised and reconciled. KRA can review records going back several years, so the goal is a system where every sale and purchase is already captured and searchable rather than reconstructed from receipts in a drawer. That is the difference between a quick review and a stressful one.

A practical path for a law firm in Kenya. Work through it in order.

1. 1

   Confirm the firm KRA PIN and VAT status

   Ensure the firm has an active KRA PIN and is VAT-registered if above the threshold, since professional services are standard-rated.

2. 2

   Separate fees from disbursements

   Set up billing so professional fees (the firm's taxable service) and disbursements (pass-through costs) are recorded distinctly.

3. 3

   Capture the client PIN on every matter

   Capture the client KRA PIN so the invoice supports their claim and any withholding they apply.

4. 4

   Issue compliant fee invoices

   Invoice professional fees through a compliant eTIMS invoice showing the fee and VAT, so the client can claim and apply withholding correctly.

5. 5

   Reconcile receipts and WHT

   Tie payments to invoices and track withholding tax deducted by clients so it is claimed against the firm's tax.

6. 6

   Keep records reconciled and file

   Maintain reconciled eTIMS records through the period so filing is a summary, not a reconstruction.

7. 7

   Train whoever rings up a sale

   Compliance only holds if the people taking payment use the system every time. Show staff how to issue a compliant invoice, when to capture a buyer PIN, and how to handle refunds with a credit note, so no sale at your law firm slips outside eTIMS.

8. 8

   Keep records reconciled, then file from real data

   Reconcile sales against M-Pesa, cash and bank as you go, so at filing time your return is a summary of records you already hold rather than a month-end reconstruction. This is where a law firm saves the most time and avoids errors.

9. 9

   Confirm the current rules with KRA

   Rates, thresholds, exemptions and deadlines change. Before relying on a specific figure, confirm the current position for your law firm at kra.go.ke or with your tax adviser, so your invoices stay correct as the rules move.

Veira is built for Kenyan businesses like law firms. It issues a compliant KRA eTIMS invoice automatically on every sale, applies the right tax treatment per item, captures the buyer KRA PIN for business customers, and reconciles M-Pesa and Pochi payments to each sale. It runs on a free handheld terminal or the phone you already own, and keeps working offline, recording sales locally and transmitting to KRA when the connection returns.

For a law firm, that means compliance happens as you trade, not as a separate evening of paperwork. Onboarding takes a weekend, with local support to help you switch from whatever you use now. See how Veira works for law firms, or book a free demo. It runs from KES 2,999 a month, with a free terminal included and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Switching is low-risk. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee, no expensive hardware to buy, and the system runs on a phone you already own, so a law firm can move from manual or non-compliant invoicing to fully compliant KRA records in a weekend. If you sell across more than one location or counter, Veira keeps every outlet on the same compliant system and the same reporting, so the whole law firm reconciles as one.