Glossary
eTIMS
The Kenya Revenue Authority's electronic Tax Invoice Management System. VAT-registered businesses, including online sellers, must issue eTIMS-compliant electronic invoices.
In plain terms
The Kenya Revenue Authority’s electronic Tax Invoice Management System. VAT-registered businesses must issue electronic invoices that comply with it, and online sales are not an exception.
A styled receipt generated by a store is not the same thing as a compliant tax invoice, which is where most online sellers discover the gap.
Why it matters in Kenya
If you are VAT-registered and selling online, the store has to produce a document that satisfies the requirement. If you are not registered yet, building the order records properly now makes the transition a configuration change rather than a rebuild.
What to do about it
Four checks you can run on your own site this week.
- Establish your registration position before building the checkout
- Capture the buyer details a compliant invoice requires at order time
- Keep invoice numbering and records in a form your accountant can work with
- Treat it as a build requirement, not something to solve after launch
More terms
Other words you will meet when commissioning web, e-commerce or search work in Kenya.
- .co.ke DomainThe second-level domain for Kenyan commercial entities, registered through KeNIC.
- KeNICThe Kenya Network Information Centre, the registry responsible for the .ke country-code top-level domain and its second-level domains including .co.ke.
- Information GainThe extent to which a page adds something (data, analysis, first-hand experience) not already available on the pages already ranking.
