What is eTIMS in Kenya?
eTIMS (the electronic Tax Invoice Management System) is KRA's mandatory platform for issuing and transmitting tax invoices in real time. Every business in Kenya, whether VAT-registered or not, is required to use it under the Tax Procedures (Electronic Tax Invoice) Regulations issued as Legal Notice No. 64 of 2024.
In practical terms, eTIMS replaced the old hardware ETR (Electronic Tax Register) machines. Instead of a printer beside the till, KRA now receives a copy of every invoice from your software the moment you ring up the sale.
Why KRA introduced eTIMS
The previous system, TIMS, depended on a physical control unit (the ETR machine) connected to your till. That hardware was expensive, prone to failure, and easy to bypass: a business could simply make sales without ringing them through the device, and KRA had no real-time view of what was happening on the ground.
eTIMS moves the control into software. Whether you use a Windows PC, an Android phone, an integrated POS like Veira, or your own accounting system, the invoice is signed and sent to KRA the moment it is created. KRA gets a near-real-time picture of business activity in Kenya, and the cost barrier of buying a dedicated machine disappears.
For the business, the change is significant: there is no longer a single point of hardware failure to manage. For KRA, it closes the biggest gap in the old system, which was off-the-books selling that the ETR machine could not see.
The four eTIMS channels (Lite, Client, VSCU, OSCU)
KRA provides four ways to connect to eTIMS, and most small businesses only need to choose one. Picking the right channel is the most important decision of the rollout, because changing later is a hassle.
eTIMS Lite is a free KRA mobile app aimed at service businesses and small traders that issue a small number of invoices. It runs on Android and iOS, and you create invoices manually one at a time. It is fine for a one-person consultancy or a small salon; it is not practical for a busy shop or restaurant.
eTIMS Client is a free KRA Windows desktop app for small and medium businesses that still want to enter invoices manually but need more capacity than the phone app. It runs on a single computer at the counter.
VSCU (Virtual Sales Control Unit) is a system-to-system integration: your existing accounting or invoicing software talks to KRA through a virtualised control unit. This suits businesses that already have their own invoicing platform and want to plug it into eTIMS.
OSCU (Online Sales Control Unit) is the integration used by point-of-sale systems and KRA-certified integrators like Veira. The POS signs each sale and transmits it to KRA over the internet automatically. For any shop, restaurant or supermarket with sales volume, this is the route that scales.
- eTIMS Lite (Android/iOS app): tiny-volume service businesses, manual entry.
- eTIMS Client (Windows app): small businesses needing more capacity than mobile.
- VSCU: software-to-software integration for existing accounting platforms.
- OSCU: real-time POS integration via certified integrators (this is how Veira works).
What a compliant eTIMS invoice contains
A valid eTIMS invoice is not just any receipt. KRA defines specific fields it must carry so it can be verified later. These include the seller's KRA PIN, an invoice serial number, the date and time, the items sold with their tax rates and amounts, the total, a unique invoice number assigned by KRA's control unit, and a QR code that any party can scan to verify the invoice through KRA's portal.
For business-to-business sales (B2B), the buyer's KRA PIN must also be on the invoice. This is the field that lets the buyer claim the cost or the input VAT on their own return. Issuing a B2B sale without the buyer PIN is a common error that costs the buyer their deduction and forces a reissue.
For business-to-consumer sales (B2C), the buyer PIN is not required, but the rest of the fields must still be present and accurate.
What changed in 2024 and 2025
Three things changed that turned eTIMS from a technical project into a business-critical requirement. First, from 1 January 2024 (under the Finance Act 2023), an expense is only tax-deductible if it is backed by a compliant eTIMS invoice from the supplier. A purchase without one cannot reduce your taxable income, regardless of whether you actually paid for it.
Second, Legal Notice No. 64 of 2024 (the Tax Procedures Electronic Tax Invoice Regulations) formalised the rules: who must register, what an invoice must contain, when transmission must happen, and what the penalties are for non-compliance.
Third, the Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC), which businesses need for tenders and various permits, now requires eTIMS registration. Without eTIMS, you cannot get a TCC, and without a TCC, large parts of formal business are closed to you.
What this means for Kenyan businesses
eTIMS is not optional. The Tax Procedures (Electronic Tax Invoice) Regulations, issued as Legal Notice No. 64 of 2024, made registration a legal requirement for every person carrying on business in Kenya, with very limited exemptions. From January 2026, KRA validates declared income and expenses directly against eTIMS data when assessing returns; mismatches and missing invoices are flagged.
The penalty for issuing a sale without a compliant eTIMS invoice is up to KES 1 million or 10% of the tax involved, whichever is higher, per the regulations. On the buyer side, expenses without an eTIMS invoice are non-deductible, so the cost lands on your taxable income whether you can prove you spent the money or not. The Tax Compliance Certificate now requires eTIMS registration, which closes off tenders and many permits to non-registered businesses.
How to get started with eTIMS in three steps
If your business has not yet registered for eTIMS, this is the shortest path to compliance.
- Check your KRA PIN status on iTax. Log in to itax.kra.go.ke and confirm your PIN is active and your tax obligations are correctly listed. eTIMS will not activate against an inactive or wrongly-classified PIN.
- Choose your eTIMS channel. Pick eTIMS Lite if you issue a handful of invoices a month as a service business; pick OSCU through a certified POS integrator if you run a shop, restaurant or any high-volume business. Choosing wrong wastes weeks.
- Register and issue a test invoice. Register on the eTIMS portal (etims.kra.go.ke) or through your POS provider. Issue a small test invoice, verify it carries a control number and QR code, and confirm it is visible on iTax before going live.
How Veira handles this
Veira is a KRA-certified eTIMS integrator running on OSCU. Every sale you ring up on a Veira terminal is signed and transmitted to KRA in real time, including the buyer PIN when you capture it for B2B sales. There is no separate app to remember to use, no daily reconciliation, and the eTIMS step happens inside the sale itself.
Frequently asked questions
What does eTIMS stand for?
eTIMS stands for electronic Tax Invoice Management System. It is the KRA platform Kenyan businesses use to issue and transmit tax invoices in real time.
Is eTIMS the same as ETR?
No. ETR (Electronic Tax Register) referred to the physical hardware device under the older TIMS system. eTIMS replaced that with software-based invoicing on a phone, computer, POS or via API.
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