Why a PIN mismatch happens
A PIN mismatch is eTIMS telling you that a KRA PIN on the invoice does not line up with KRA's records. Most often it is the buyer PIN: it was mistyped, belongs to a different entity than the customer gave, or the PIN is not active. Less often it is a seller-side registration issue with your own PIN or eTIMS setup.
It matters because a business customer cannot claim what they spent with you if the PIN on the invoice is wrong, so they will return it. The fix is to confirm the correct, active PIN and reissue cleanly. Because PIN status and details sit with KRA, confirm anything you are unsure about, such as whether a PIN is active, with KRA.
Most eTIMS errors are not mysteries; they are a missing field, a sync gap or a wrong setting, each quick to fix.
How to fix it, step by step
Work through these in order. Stop when the issue clears.
- 1
Confirm which PIN mismatched
Check whether the error is on the buyer PIN or your seller PIN. The message and context usually make this clear.
- 2
Verify the correct PIN with the customer
For a buyer mismatch, confirm the customer's exact KRA PIN and that it is active, rather than re-entering the same wrong value.
- 3
Correct the invoice properly
If the invoice was already issued, reverse it with a credit note and reissue with the correct PIN, so the trail stays clean.
- 4
Check your own eTIMS registration
If the mismatch is on your seller PIN, confirm your eTIMS registration and PIN setup are correct, and contact KRA if needed.
How to stop it happening again
Re-entering the same wrong PIN
If a PIN mismatched, confirm the correct one with the customer or KRA rather than retyping the same value.
Deleting the invoice to fix it
Do not delete a transmitted invoice. Reverse with a credit note and reissue with the right PIN.
Issuing without verifying business PINs
Capturing PINs carelessly causes mismatches. Confirm a business customer's PIN at the sale.
A supplier fixes a buyer PIN
A supplier issued an eTIMS invoice to a corporate customer, but it returned a PIN mismatch because a digit had been mistyped, so the customer could not claim.
The supplier confirmed the customer's exact, active KRA PIN, reversed the wrong invoice with a credit note, and reissued with the correct PIN.
The customer could now claim, and the trail clearly showed the correction, rather than a deleted record.
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 avoids this
Veira is built so most eTIMS errors never reach you. It issues compliant KRA eTIMS invoices automatically with the right fields and tax treatment, validates as you go, captures the buyer PIN for business customers, and transmits to KRA, recording locally and syncing when you are offline so nothing gets stuck.
When something does need attention, Veira surfaces it clearly and local support helps you resolve it, rather than leaving you to decode a raw error. It runs on a free terminal or the phone you own, from KES 2,999 a month with a 30-day money-back guarantee. See how Veira works, or book a free demo.
Frequently asked questions
What does an eTIMS PIN mismatch mean?
How do I fix a PIN mismatch on an eTIMS invoice?
Why is the buyer PIN inactive?
How do I avoid PIN mismatches?
Will Veira stop this error happening?
Where do I confirm KRA-specific details?
eTIMS PIN mismatch is usually a quick fix once you know the cause, and with a compliant system like Veira it rarely arises at all. See how Veira works, or book a free demo. Always read the exact error and confirm KRA-specific steps at kra.go.ke.