Buying From Abroad in Kenya: KRA Duty, Postal and Courier Charges Explained

Updated 25 October 2026

That phone case, pair of shoes or laptop part you ordered from a foreign online store is not fully paid for until it clears customs in Kenya. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) taxes most goods that come into the country, and that includes small parcels bought online for personal use. Kenya does not have a low-value threshold below which parcels come in tax free, so even a cheap order can come with a bill.

This guide explains how KRA works out what you owe, what happens when a parcel arrives through Posta Kenya compared with a courier, the size and value limits that need a formal customs entry, and how to budget before you click “buy”. With Black Friday and Christmas orders on the way, it’s worth knowing the numbers before your parcel lands.

In this guide

1. How KRA Works Out the Tax on Your Parcel
2. A Worked Example
3. Collecting a Parcel Through Posta Kenya
4. The USD 1,000 and 70 kg Rule
5. Postal, Courier or Forwarder: Which Route Costs Less?
6. How to Avoid Surprises
7. Who to Contact
8. Frequently Asked Questions

How KRA Works Out the Tax on Your Parcel

KRA assesses customs taxes on the customs value of the goods. Under the East African Community Customs Management Act (EACCMA) 2004, that value is normally the price actually paid or payable for the item. In practice it is the CIF value: the cost of the goods, plus insurance, plus freight (shipping) to Kenya, converted to shillings at the customs exchange rate.

Three charges make up most of the bill:

• Import duty. A percentage of the customs value, set by the item’s tariff (HS) code in the EAC Common External Tariff. Most goods sit in the 0%, 10%, 25% or 35% bands. Finished consumer goods are often 25% or 35%, while many raw materials are lower.
• Excise duty. Charged only on certain products, such as alcohol, tobacco, some cosmetics and some electronics. Most online orders don’t attract it.
• VAT at 16%. Charged on the customs value plus import duty (and plus excise, where it applies).

On imports entered for home use, the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act also provides for an Import Declaration Fee (IDF) of 2.5% and a Railway Development Levy (RDL) of 2% of the customs value. These always appear on formal entries. For a small postal parcel, the officer’s assessment slip shows exactly which charges were applied, so check it line by line. Our Import Declaration Form (IDF) guide explains the IDF itself.

A Worked Example

Say you buy a pair of trainers for USD 60 and pay USD 15 for shipping. At an exchange rate of about KSh 129.85 to the dollar (the market rate on 24 October 2026), the customs value is about KSh 9,739. If the officer assesses the shoes at a 25% duty rate, this is roughly what you pay when you collect them from the post office:

Line	How it is worked out	Amount
Item price	USD 60
Shipping to Kenya	USD 15
Customs value (CIF)	USD 75 at KSh 129.85	KSh 9,739
Import duty	25% of KSh 9,739	KSh 2,435
VAT	16% of (KSh 9,739 + KSh 2,435)	KSh 1,948
Posta handling	Usual charge with no extra storage	KSh 175
Total to pay on collection		about KSh 4,558

That is about 47% on top of the shipped price. The real rate depends on the tariff code KRA gives your item, so the same USD 75 order could cost less in tax (an item in the 10% band) or more (an item in the 35% band). For bigger orders, our import duty calculator adds duty, excise, VAT, IDF and RDL for you.

Collecting a Parcel Through Posta Kenya

KRA has published the steps for personal parcels that come in through the Postal Corporation of Kenya:

1. Bring your national ID, passport or residence permit and the parcel’s tracking number to the post office named on your notice.
2. Posta retrieves the parcel and you open it in front of the customs officer, who checks what is inside.
3. Show the invoice or order confirmation for the item. If you don’t have one, the officer uses other customs valuation methods to set a value, which may be higher than what you paid. Keep the receipt.
4. The officer records the assessment on the Postal Slip (P195), and an F147 tax notice is generated.
5. Pay the taxes by mobile money, bank or card.
6. Pay Posta’s handling and storage charge. KRA says this is usually KSh 175 if the parcel has no extra storage charges.
7. Collect your parcel.

If your parcel is sent on to a smaller post office with no customs officer, the assessment is done first and the tax demand travels with the parcel. You then pay the taxes and postal charges at that post office, and Posta passes the taxes to KRA.

Prohibited goods are seized. Restricted goods are held until you show the permit or approval needed from the relevant authority. For example, medicines need clearance from the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, and radio or telecom devices must be type-approved by the Communications Authority of Kenya.

The USD 1,000 and 70 kg Rule

KRA requires a formal customs entry for parcels worth more than USD 1,000 or KSh 100,000, or weighing over 70 kg. In that case the goods are declared in KRA’s Integrated Customs Management System, usually by a licensed clearing agent, and verified before release. Our iCMS login and customs declaration guide covers how entries work, and our KenTrade single window guide explains where permits fit in. Only after the entry is approved and released do you pay the postal charges and collect.

If you are buying stock to resell, treat it as a commercial import from the start, even if each parcel is small. Goods for trade need proper entries, and a VAT-registered business can usually claim the import VAT back as input tax.

Postal, Courier or Forwarder: Which Route Costs Less?

The taxes are the same whichever way your goods come in. What changes is who clears the goods and what extra fees they add.

Route	Who clears customs	How you pay the taxes	Best for
Postal service (Posta Kenya)	KRA officer at the post parcel office assesses the parcel in front of you	Mobile money, bank or card against the F147 tax notice, then the Posta handling fee	Small, low-value personal parcels from stores that ship by national post
International courier (for example DHL, FedEx, UPS or Aramex)	The courier’s own customs team files the entry for you	The courier bills you the taxes plus its own clearance or disbursement fee before delivery	Urgent or valuable items and door delivery
Freight forwarder or shopping-and-shipping service	The forwarder’s clearing agent	Often quoted per kilo with taxes included or listed separately	Several items bought from different stores and shipped together
Formal entry through a clearing agent	A licensed clearing agent lodges an entry in iCMS	Taxes paid to KRA on the entry, plus the agent’s fee	Parcels over USD 1,000 (KSh 100,000) or over 70 kg, and goods for resale

International couriers are fast and deliver to your door, but they clear the goods through their own customs teams and usually add a clearance or disbursement fee on top of the taxes. Ask for the courier’s fee schedule, or check the store’s checkout to see whether duties are prepaid (sometimes called DDP, “delivered duty paid”) or left for you to pay on arrival (DDU or DAP).

How to Avoid Surprises

• Budget about half again on top. For goods in the 25% duty band, duty and VAT together come to about 45% of the CIF value, before handling or courier fees.
• Keep the invoice. Without it, the officer sets the value, and you may pay more.
• Combine orders carefully. One bigger parcel saves on shipping, but if it goes over USD 1,000 it needs a formal entry and an agent.
• Check the duty band for your item. Similar-looking items can sit in different tariff lines. A clearing agent can tell you the HS code before you buy.
• Don’t under-declare. Asking a seller to mark a parcel as a “gift” or put a lower value on it can lead to penalties and seizure. KRA can value goods itself.
• Collect on time. Storage charges build up the longer a parcel sits uncollected.

Vehicles follow separate depreciation and excise rules, so use our car import duty guide instead. If you plan to resell imported items, our guide to starting an online shop in Kenya covers registration and payments.

Who to Contact

For questions about a parcel held at the Nairobi post parcel office, KRA lists the Customs Post Parcel office at Times Tower, Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi: email postpnrbcustoms@kra.go.ke, telephone 020 224 9252. For courier parcels, contact the courier’s customs desk using your waybill number.

Looking for work in logistics or customs clearing? Browse current openings on JobinKenya.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I pay duty on small parcels bought online in Kenya?

Usually, yes. Kenya has no tax-free threshold for low-value parcels, so KRA can assess duty and VAT on cheap items too.

How much is VAT on imported goods in Kenya?

16%, charged on the customs value plus any import duty and excise duty.

What does Posta charge to release a parcel?

KRA says the handling and storage charge is usually KSh 175 if there are no extra storage charges.

When do I need a clearing agent?

When a parcel is worth more than USD 1,000 (KSh 100,000) or weighs more than 70 kg, a formal entry is required. Most people use a licensed clearing agent for that.

What if I lost the receipt?

The customs officer will use other valuation methods to set the value. That figure may be higher than what you paid, so keep a copy of every order confirmation.

Can I pay the taxes by M-Pesa?

Yes. KRA lists mobile money, bank and card as ways to pay the F147 tax notice for postal parcels.

Based on KRA’s “Procedures for Clearance of your Imported Postal Parcels” and its guidance on how customs duties are assessed, the EAC Common External Tariff and the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act. Exchange rate from open.er-api.com, 24 October 2026. Checked 24 October 2026.