What eTIMS item codes are and why KRA requires them
An eTIMS item code is a standardised identifier that tells KRA the category of a product or service. When you register an item in eTIMS you give it a code, a name, a unit of measure, a price and a tax type. From then on, every time you sell that item, the invoice carries the code automatically. KRA uses the codes to see, across the whole economy, what is being sold, by whom, and whether the right tax was charged.
The classification is built on UNSPSC (the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code), a global taxonomy organised into segments, families, classes and commodities. KRA layers Kenyan tax rules on top: each code is tied to a tax type so that VAT is applied correctly. This is why two products that look similar can need different codes if one is standard-rated and the other is zero-rated or exempt.
Item codes matter because they are the link between your sale and KRA's records. If your codes are accurate and your tax types correct, your VAT return reconciles with your eTIMS data and audits are quick. If your codes are wrong or missing, invoices fail to transmit, your return will not match your sales, and you risk penalties. Getting the codes right once, at setup, saves a great deal of trouble later.
How to find and assign the right item code
Follow this process when you set up your products in eTIMS or a connected POS.
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Step 1: List your products and services
Write down everything you sell, grouped into sensible categories: for a supermarket that might be groceries, beverages, household goods and fresh produce; for a pharmacy, prescription medicines, over-the-counter products and consumables. You assign a code per item or per group of identical items, so a clean product list is the starting point.
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Step 2: Match each item to its classification
Find the UNSPSC-based code that best describes the item in the eTIMS classification list. Work from the general category down to the specific commodity. Choose the closest accurate match rather than forcing an item into an unrelated code. KRA publishes the code list, and certified systems let you search it by keyword.
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Step 3: Set the correct tax type
Attach the right tax type to each code: standard-rated (16% VAT), zero-rated (such as certain exports and specified goods), or exempt (such as certain financial and medical services). This is the part business owners get wrong most often. Confirm the rate for your specific goods against the VAT Act schedules before you finalise.
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Step 4: Add unit of measure and packaging
Each item needs a unit of measure (piece, kilogram, litre, packet) and, where relevant, packaging detail. For businesses that sell by weight or volume, like a hardware store selling cement by the bag or a butchery selling by the kilo, the unit must match how you actually sell so quantities and totals are correct.
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Step 5: Register the items once, then sell
Once each item is registered with its code, tax type and unit, you do not touch the code again at the point of sale. The invoice picks it up automatically. New products get a code when you add them. The discipline is all at setup; day-to-day selling then carries the correct classification with zero extra effort.
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Step 6: Review and update periodically
When you add product lines, change suppliers, or when KRA updates the classification or a tax rate, review your codes. A quick periodic check keeps your catalogue accurate so your eTIMS data and VAT returns continue to reconcile.
Item codes by sector, and what goes wrong
Retail and supermarkets
Groceries, beverages, household and personal-care goods each sit in their own classification, and some staples are zero-rated while most packaged goods are standard-rated. Supermarkets with thousands of lines benefit most from a system that searches and assigns codes in bulk rather than item by item.
Pharmacies
Medicines and medical supplies have their own classifications, and many qualify as zero-rated or exempt. Mixing a standard-rated consumable with an exempt medicine under one code distorts your VAT. Pharmacies should separate prescription medicines, OTC products and general consumables.
Food and beverage
Restaurants and cafes classify prepared food and drinks, which are generally standard-rated. The common error is lumping everything under a single generic "food" code; cleaner categories make reporting and any future rate changes easier to handle.
Mistake: wrong tax type on the code
The most damaging error is attaching the wrong tax type, for example charging 16% on a zero-rated item or treating a standard item as exempt. This either overcharges customers or under-declares VAT, and both create problems with KRA. Verify the rate against the VAT Act, not memory.
Mistake: one generic code for everything
Putting every product under a single catch-all code makes transmission technically work but destroys the value of the data and risks rejection or audit flags. Take the time to map real categories; it pays back at return time.
A Mombasa supermarket maps 1,200 products to codes
A mid-sized supermarket in Mombasa carried about 1,200 product lines across groceries, drinks, household goods and fresh produce. When eTIMS became mandatory, the owner first tried to assign codes by hand and quickly stalled: some staples were zero-rated, most packaged goods were standard-rated, and a handful were exempt, and getting the tax type wrong on even a few hundred lines would have thrown off the VAT return.
Working through the products in categories made it manageable. Fresh produce and certain staples were mapped to their zero-rated classifications, packaged and household goods to standard-rated codes, and each item was given a real unit of measure. The work took a focused couple of days, but it only had to be done once.
After go-live, every sale carried the right code and tax type with no cashier input. When the supermarket filed VAT, the return reconciled with the eTIMS data because the classifications and rates were correct. The lesson: the effort is all in the one-time setup, and a system that searches and bulk-assigns codes turns days of work into hours.
Trading without eTIMS-compliant tax invoices risks KRA penalties, blocked VAT input claims for your customers, and receipts a business buyer cannot expense.
Veira signs every sale to KRA eTIMS automatically, so each receipt is compliant the moment it prints, with no separate device to reconcile.
How Veira manages eTIMS item codes for you
Veira, a KRA-certified eTIMS integrator, builds item-code management into product setup. When you add a product you search the KRA classification by name, pick the right code, and set the tax type once; from then on every sale of that item carries the correct code automatically. For large catalogues, Veira lets you classify in bulk and by category, so a supermarket with thousands of lines is not assigning codes one at a time.
Because Veira keeps the codes and tax types attached to each product, your invoices transmit cleanly to KRA and your VAT return reconciles with your eTIMS records without manual matching. When KRA updates the classification or a rate changes, you update the affected items in one place rather than re-coding every invoice.
The result is that the hardest part of eTIMS, classifying what you sell correctly, becomes a guided setup step instead of a recurring headache, and your day-to-day selling stays simple.
Frequently asked questions
What are eTIMS item codes?
How do I find the right eTIMS item code for my product?
What happens if I use the wrong eTIMS item code?
Do I have to assign a code to every single product?
Are eTIMS item codes the same as barcodes?
How does Veira handle item codes?
eTIMS item codes are the link between your sales and KRA, so getting them right at setup is what keeps invoices transmitting and returns reconciling. Map your products to the correct classification and tax type once, then let the system carry it on every sale. Veira is KRA eTIMS certified and assigns item codes for you. See how Veira handles eTIMS and book a free demo.