Kenya Car Import Duty Calculator (KRA)
Work out the full KRA tax bill on importing a used car to Kenya. Depreciates the CRSP value by vehicle age, then layers Import Duty, cc-tiered Excise, VAT, IDF and RDL to give your total taxes, landed cost and effective rate.
Vehicle & CRSP Details
KRA Import Tax Config
CRSP (Current Retail Selling Price) is KRA's published new-vehicle reference value for your exact make and model.
5 years → KRA depreciation of 40% on CRSP.
Excise tier: ≤ 1500cc · 20%
Indicative Estimate
Indicative estimate — verify with the official authority (KRA) or a licensed clearing agent. CRSP tables, depreciation bands and rates change, and this excludes registration, IPF and agent fees.
How to use this tool
Enter the CRSP value
Input KRA's Current Retail Selling Price for a brand-new unit of your exact make, model and trim in KES.
Pick age and engine
Select the vehicle's age band so KRA depreciation applies, then set the engine capacity in cc for the correct excise tier.
Read the tax breakdown
See customs value, Import Duty, Excise, VAT, IDF and RDL totalled, plus the effective rate and estimated landed cost.
Staying under 1500cc keeps excise at 20% instead of 25%, and since VAT stacks on top, a smaller engine can save you a lot of shillings.
Import Duty + Excise + VAT + IDF + RDL
Tax Breakdown
KRA CascadeCustoms Value (depreciated CRSP)
40% depreciation
Import Duty (25%)
of customs value
Excise Duty (20%)
of customs + duty
VAT (16%)
of customs + duty + excise
IDF (3.5%)
of customs value
RDL (2%)
of customs value
Taxes cascade: Import Duty is charged on the customs value, Excise on (customs + duty), and VAT on (customs + duty + excise). IDF and RDL are both flat levies on the customs value.
The 8-Year Rule
Kenya bans the import of vehicles older than 8 years from the year of first registration. Within that window, older cars attract steeper depreciation (up to 70%), which lowers customs value and therefore the tax bill.
Why Engine Size Matters
Excise duty jumps from 20% (≤1500cc) to 25% (1501–3000cc) and 35% (above 3000cc). A larger engine raises both excise and the VAT computed on top of it, so cc choice can swing your total taxes sharply.
Why Importing a Car to Kenya Costs More Than the Sticker Price
Buying a used car from Japan or the UK and shipping it to Mombasa looks cheap until the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) applies its tax cascade. The taxman ignores what you paid the seller. Instead, KRA values your car off its CRSP — the Current Retail Selling Price of a brand-new identical unit — then depreciates it for age and layers five separate charges on top. This calculator runs that exact sequence so you can budget before you commit a single shilling.
Step 1: From CRSP to Customs Value
Everything starts with the CRSP figure for your precise make, model and trim. KRA then reduces it using a fixed depreciation schedule tied to the car's age: 5% under a year old, rising through 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% and a maximum of 70% at 8 years. The result is your customs value — the base on which all duties are computed. Note Kenya's 8-year rule: vehicles older than 8 years from first registration cannot be imported at all.
Step 2: The Five-Tax Cascade
The charges do not all apply to the same base — they stack:
- Import Duty — 25% of the customs value.
- Excise Duty — cc-tiered on (customs value + import duty): 20% up to 1500cc, 25% for 1501–3000cc, 35% above 3000cc.
- VAT — 16% of (customs value + import duty + excise).
- IDF (Import Declaration Fee) — 3.5% of the customs value.
- RDL (Railway Development Levy) — 2% of the customs value.
Because excise sits on top of duty, and VAT sits on top of both, a larger engine or higher CRSP snowballs quickly.
A Worked Example in KES
Say you're importing a 5-year-old, 1500cc sedan with a CRSP of KES 2,500,000.
- Customs value = 2,500,000 × (1 − 0.40) = KES 1,500,000 (40% depreciation at 5 years).
- Import Duty = 25% × 1,500,000 = KES 375,000.
- Excise = 20% × (1,500,000 + 375,000) = 20% × 1,875,000 = KES 375,000.
- VAT = 16% × (1,500,000 + 375,000 + 375,000) = 16% × 2,250,000 = KES 360,000.
- IDF = 3.5% × 1,500,000 = KES 52,500.
- RDL = 2% × 1,500,000 = KES 30,000.
Total KRA taxes = KES 1,192,500 — an effective rate of about 79.5% of the customs value. Your indicative landed cost (customs value + taxes, before registration and agent fees) is roughly KES 2,692,500.
How Engine Size Swings the Bill
Re-run the same car as a 3200cc SUV and excise jumps to 35%, dragging VAT up with it. That single change can add hundreds of thousands of shillings. Picking a sub-1500cc engine is the most reliable lever for keeping taxes down, which is why fuel-efficient saloons dominate Kenyan imports.
Plan the Whole Purchase, Not Just the Tax
The tax estimate is one slice of total ownership cost. If you're financing the purchase, compare borrowing structures with our car loan vs lease calculator, and if you're weighing import economics against a different market, our Pakistan car registration fee calculator shows how another country layers its vehicle taxes.
Read the Estimate, Then Verify
This tool gives an indicative estimate based on the published KRA structure. It excludes registration, the Import Processing Fee, pre-shipment inspection and clearing-agent charges, and KRA revises CRSP tables and rates periodically. Use it to budget and compare options — then confirm the final figure with KRA or a licensed clearing agent before you ship.
Expert FAQ
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