The price you pay for a car overseas is only part of the cost of having it on the road in Kenya. Customs duty, excise duty, VAT and several fees are added, and for many cars they cost as much as the car itself. Doing the sum before you buy avoids an expensive surprise at the port.

Check the age rule first

Kenya limits imported cars to a maximum age, measured from the year of manufacture. The usual limit is eight years, so check the car's date before anything else. The free car age checker tells you whether a vehicle is eligible and when it stops being so.

The taxes and fees

An imported car attracts several charges, calculated on a value for customs purposes:

  • Import duty, 35% of the customs value for cars at the time of writing.
  • Excise duty, which depends on the engine type and size. Larger engines pay a higher rate.
  • VAT at 16%, charged on the customs value plus duty and excise.
  • Import Declaration Fee (IDF), a small percentage of the customs value that has changed between Finance Acts, so confirm the current rate.
  • Railway Development Levy (RDL) at 2% of the customs value.

Clearing agent fees, port charges, inspection and registration are extra.

Why the CRSP value matters

KRA does not always use the price you paid. It uses a Current Retail Selling Price (CRSP) list for each make and model, and then applies a depreciation allowance for the car's age. If your purchase price is lower than the CRSP-based value, you will be taxed on the higher figure. Look up the CRSP value before agreeing a price.

A rough picture

Use the car import duty calculator to enter the CRSP value, the age and the engine type. It shows each tax separately and the total. As a rough guide, a mid-sized petrol car can cost close to double its customs value once all charges are included. The figures in this article are for orientation only; the calculator uses the rates currently stored in our rate tables.

Other imports

Budget the whole project

An import is a project with several costs that arrive at different times. The project budget and cost tracker keeps the budget, payments and actual costs together, and the loan repayment and amortisation schedule shows the monthly cost if you finance it.

If you import goods for a business, remember that input VAT may be claimable; see VAT for small businesses in Kenya. Keep the customs entry and the invoice with your records, as described in how to keep business records for KRA.

Before you pay a seller

  1. Confirm the age and the CRSP value.
  2. Run the numbers in the calculator.
  3. Ask your clearing agent for a written quote.
  4. Check that the car meets the inspection standards.

Duty rates and valuation methods change. Confirm current figures with KRA before you commit.