eTIMS for Partnerships in Kenya: What to Know (2026)

A partnership is a business in its own right for tax purposes, with its own KRA PIN, and eTIMS applies to it as it does to other businesses: the partnership issues compliant eTIMS invoices for its supplies, under the partnership PIN, recording the firm's income. Whether it issues VAT or non-VAT invoices depends on the partnership's registration status.

The point that catches some partnerships out is the separation between the firm and the partners. The partnership records and reports its income through eTIMS and its returns, distinct from the partners' personal tax positions. So the discipline is to run the partnership's invoicing and records under the partnership's PIN, keep them clean, and let each partner handle their own position from the partnership's results. Confirm the exact registration and filing obligations for your partnership with KRA.

The point that catches partnerships out is that the partnership itself is the taxpayer for these purposes, not the individual partners. Invoices are issued under the partnership’s own PIN and details, and a partner’s personal PIN is not a substitute, however convenient it seems on a day when the partner handling admin is unavailable.

That makes authority worth settling in advance rather than at a busy moment. Decide which partners can act on the account, who holds the credentials, and what happens when that person is travelling or leaves the partnership. Credentials held informally by whoever set them up are a common single point of failure, and the failure always surfaces at the least convenient time.

A practical path for a Kenyan business.

1. 1

   Confirm the partnership PIN and status

   Ensure the partnership has an active KRA PIN and the correct registration, since these determine the invoices it issues.

2. 2

   Issue invoices under the partnership PIN

   Record the firm's supplies through compliant eTIMS invoices under the partnership's PIN, not a partner's personal PIN.

3. 3

   Keep the partnership's records

   Maintain the partnership's sales and purchase records, reconciled, for its returns.

4. 4

   Separate firm and partner positions

   Keep the partnership's records distinct from the partners' personal tax, and confirm each obligation with KRA.

5. 5

   Register under the partnership, not a partner

   Use the partnership’s own PIN and registered details. An invoice issued under a partner’s personal PIN is not an invoice from the partnership.

6. 6

   Agree who can act, and record it

   Decide which partners hold access and write it down with the partnership’s other records, so a change of personnel does not become a lockout.

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