How Much Does it Cost to Apply for a KRA PIN?

Well, my understanding is that the Kenya Revenue Authority doesn’t charge anything for KRA PIN application. So in terms of government payments, there is absolutely nothing that you will have to pay, to apply for a KRA PIN. It is free. However, if you are applying for a KRA PIN at a cyber café (as most people are having to do nowadays), then you would have to pay the cyber café people for the service. You see, in helping you to apply for a KRA PIN, the cyber café people render a service to you, right? Then you have to pay for that service. Some cyber cafes charge as little as 200 shillings for the service, some even less. Others charge as much as 500 shillings for the KRA application service, some even more. 

Of course, if you go to a cyber cafe and apply for a KRA PIN by yourself (using one of the computers in the cyber cafe), then you would only have to pay for the minutes you used in the process. Thus, for instance, if the process of applying for a KRA PIN takes you some 40 minutes, and the cyber café you visited charges 1 shilling per minute, then you would only have to pay 40 shillings. But that is only if you are applying for the KRA PIN by yourself. If it is the cyber café people who are applying for the PIN for you/helping you in applying for the KRA PIN, different charges would apply.

Of course, if you have your own computer, you can just go to KRA's iTax portal (itax.kra.go.ke), and apply for your PIN there, and you wouldn't pay anything. You can even attempt it using a smart-phone, if you have a good smart-phone capable of running a browser.

If you don’t have money, but you want to apply for a KRA PIN, you can try visiting the nearest Huduma Center, where they may have a desk dedicated to KRA matters. So you can talk to the folks at the desk, to see if they can help you in KRA application and they wouldn't charge you anything. Another approach you can use, if you have no money but you want a KRA PIN, is to visit the KRA offices. People who used to apply for KRA PINs in the traditional way (before the KRA launched the iTax portal) were able to do so at KRA offices, without paying anything. But then one would have to cope with very long queues. I don’t know if it is still possible to apply for a KRA PIN at the KRA offices, but you can give it a try all the same. But KRA seems to be encouraging people to use the iTax portal for things like KRA PIN application. And in any event, the transport costs you have to incur to get to a Huduma Center or to a KRA office may turn out to be more than what you’d have paid at a cyber café to have the cyber café assistants help you with KRA PIN application.