eTIMS for Real Estate Agents in Kenya: The Complete 2026 Guide

A real estate agency earns from sale commissions, letting commissions and ongoing property management fees. These are the agency's taxable services, distinct from the property prices or rents that pass through to owners, and that distinction is central to invoicing an agency correctly on eTIMS.

Because landlords, developers and corporate clients are often businesses, they need the agency's invoice to carry their KRA PIN to claim the fee, and agency and management fees commonly attract withholding tax that the client deducts and remits. The agency's invoice has to present the fee and VAT cleanly.

VAT and withholding tax for an agency. Real estate agency and management services are standard-rated for VAT, so a VAT-registered agency charges VAT on its commission and fees and shows it on the eTIMS invoice. Those fees commonly attract withholding tax, where the paying client deducts a percentage and remits it to KRA, claiming it against the agency's tax. The rent or sale price passing through to the owner is treated separately from the agency's fee.

A small agency below the VAT threshold still issues compliant non-VAT eTIMS invoices for its fees. Confirm the current VAT and withholding rules with KRA, and keep the agency fee distinct from pass-through amounts.

Running a real estate agent brings its own compliance demands. The specific ones that matter for eTIMS are:

- Commission and management fees are the agency's taxable service, distinct from pass-through rent or sale prices

- Business clients need the agency invoice to carry their KRA PIN

- Fees commonly attract withholding tax the client deducts

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

Deadlines and penalties for real estate agents: 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 real estate agent 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 real estate agents. 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 real estate agent 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 real estate agent 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 real estate agent in Kenya. Work through it in order.

1. 1

   Confirm the agency KRA PIN and VAT status

   Ensure an active KRA PIN and register for VAT if above the threshold, since agency and management services are standard-rated.

2. 2

   Separate fees from pass-through amounts

   Set up billing so commission and management fees (the agency's service) are recorded distinctly from rent or sale prices that belong to the owner.

3. 3

   Capture the client PIN per engagement

   Capture the landlord, developer or corporate client KRA PIN so the invoice supports their claim and any withholding.

4. 4

   Issue compliant fee invoices

   Invoice commission and management fees through compliant eTIMS invoices showing fee and VAT, so clients can claim and apply withholding.

5. 5

   Track withholding deducted

   Record withholding tax clients deduct on fees so it is claimed against the agency's tax.

6. 6

   Reconcile and keep records

   Tie fee receipts to invoices and keep reconciled records so filing summarises data you already hold.

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 real estate agent 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 real estate agent 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 real estate agent 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 real estate agents. 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 real estate agent, 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 real estate agents, 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 real estate agent 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 real estate agent reconciles as one.