Many Kenyans hold two jobs, a day job and a part-time role or consultancy. Each employer deducts PAYE without knowing about the other, so the tax taken can be less than the tax you really owe. Knowing how it works avoids a bill when you file.

How each employer taxes you

Each employer applies the PAYE bands to the pay it gives you. For a second job, the employer treats the pay as secondary employment and normally does not give personal relief, because it can be claimed only once, with your main employer. Other reliefs, such as insurance relief, should also be claimed with one employer only.

Why the tax can fall short

The bands are progressive. If you earn KES 80,000 at each job, each employer taxes the pay as if it were your only income, mostly in the lower bands. But your total income of KES 160,000 pushes the second half into the 30% band. The tax actually due on the combined income is higher than the sum of what the two employers deducted, and the difference is yours to pay.

Put the combined pay into the PAYE calculator to see the tax due on the whole, and compare it with the sum of your two payslips.

What to do

  1. Tell your main employer it is your main job and give them your reliefs.
  2. Tell your second employer it is a secondary employment, so they do not apply relief twice.
  3. File an annual return by 30 June. List both employers' income and PAYE; the return works out the tax on the total and gives you a balance to pay or a refund. See the 30 June tax deadline.
  4. Keep both P9 forms. Each employer issues one; see filing your employment return with a P9.

An example

Your main job pays KES 100,000 and the second pays KES 50,000 a month. The main employer deducts PAYE of about KES 19,000 after relief. The second employer, giving no relief, deducts roughly KES 12,000. The actual tax on KES 150,000 after one relief is more than the total of the two figures, so expect a balance to pay in your return. The annual return estimator works out the balance from both P9 totals.

Plan for the balance

Set money aside during the year so that the balance is not a surprise. A savings and sinking fund tracker can hold the tax pot, and the free annual income tax estimator helps you estimate the year's tax from both incomes.

If the second income is not employment

If the second income is from freelance work or a business rather than a salary, the rules are different; read side hustle income for employees and tax for freelancers.

Statutory deductions

NSSF, SHIF and the Housing Levy are charged on each job's pay. NSSF has a cap per employment, so check the totals; see NSSF contributions explained.

Confirm the current treatment of secondary employment with KRA before you rely on this example.