Income Tax Exemption for Persons with Disability in Kenya

Check KRA’s published disability exemption, the certificate requirement and how to reconcile it with payroll and your annual return.

2 min readReviewed 21 October 2026

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KRA’s published administrative guidance provides for exemption on the first KES 150,000 of total monthly income, or KES 1.8 million annually, for an eligible person with disability. Registration with NCPWD and a valid income-tax exemption certificate matter: a disability card alone is not the same as payroll approval to exempt income.

Income Tax Exemption for Persons with Disability in Kenya illustration

Start with the certificate

Check the certificate’s validity dates, the income covered and any conditions. Give payroll a copy before asking for the exemption to be applied. If a renewal is needed, use the current NCPWD and KRA process and retain your application evidence. Do not assume a pending application automatically extends an expired certificate.

How the limit works

The published KES 150,000 figure is exempt income, not a KES 150,000 credit against tax. Income above the exemption must be assessed under the applicable rules. The exemption is personal: splitting earnings between employers does not multiply the annual allowance.

Other payroll deductions

An income-tax exemption does not, by itself, remove every non-tax deduction on a payslip. NSSF, SHIF, Housing Levy and loan deductions have their own rules. Ask payroll to separate the PAYE calculation from each other contribution and show the legal basis for any exemption it applies.

Check records before filing

Reconcile the P9, certificate dates, income from each source and tax already withheld. If payroll began applying the certificate partway through a year, establish its effective date before claiming an earlier-period adjustment. Do not claim the same exempt income separately against each job.

Where the guidance and your circumstances differ

Disability legislation and administrative implementation can change. This article reports KRA’s published certificate-based treatment checked for this review; it should not be read as limiting any wider statutory entitlement. If your certificate, a newer legal provision or KRA’s instructions differ, obtain a written determination for your circumstances rather than substituting a generic calculator.

For the ordinary calculation to which an exemption may apply, see the PAYE guide.

Sources and review date

Reviewed on 21 October 2026. Use the rules for the period being calculated; historical payslips may use different limits.