Career advice · Updated November 2026

NITA Levy in Kenya: KSh 50 Per Employee, Who Pays It and How to File It on iTax

The NITA levy is a training levy of KSh 50 per employee per month that every employer in Kenya pays to the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA). It is the employer’s own cost: it must not be deducted from workers’ salaries. Since KRA took over collection, employers declare it in the monthly PAYE return on iTax and pay it by the 9th of the following month. This guide explains who pays, how to register, how to file and pay, and what an employer gets back.

NITA levy at a glance

Is NITA deducted from my salary?

No. This is the most common question from employees, and the answer is clear on NITA’s own Levy Inspectorate page: the levy is “not a deduction from payroll”. Your payslip may legally show deductions for PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and the Affordable Housing Levy, but not for NITA. If your employer is taking KSh 50 from your pay and labelling it NITA, raise it with HR first. Our guide to lawful salary deductions in Kenya explains which deductions are allowed and what to do about unlawful ones, and how to read your payslip shows each line.

Who must pay the NITA levy

NITA says all employers operating in Kenya need to register as levy payers. The levy is calculated per employee on the payroll, so a business with 20 staff pays KSh 1,000 a month (20 × 50), or KSh 12,000 a year.

Payroll advisers point to paragraph 3A of the Industrial Training (Training Levy) Order, which exempts employers with fewer than 100 staff in their first year of operation, but report that KRA’s system still raises penalties from the date of incorporation in practice, so the safe course is to register as soon as you hire your first employee.

How to register as a NITA levy payer

NITA’s levy page lists what you need:

1. Fill in Form 1 (Employer Registration), downloadable from the NITA website.
2. Attach a copy of your business registration certificate and KRA PIN certificate.
3. Send it to the nearest NITA office, by official email or by post. NITA’s head office is on Commercial Street, Industrial Area, Nairobi.

NITA also says employers must notify it in writing within 30 days, with reasons, if they stop being an employer.

How to file and pay the NITA levy on iTax

Collection moved from NITA’s Director General to the KRA Commissioner General under the Industrial Training (Amendment) Act 2022. KRA and NITA signed a service level agreement in April 2023 to formalise the handover, and by April 2024 KRA had collected KSh 1.45 billion in training levy since January that year, according to the Kenyans.co.ke report cited below. KRA’s step-by-step iTax guide sets out the process:

1. Log in to iTax with the employer PIN and password and open the PAYE return (Returns, File Return, Income Tax – PAYE).
2. Download the Excel PAYE return and go to sheet M1 (NITA Levy Details). List each employee on the payroll for the period. KRA advises using the employee’s national ID, alien ID or passport number as the NITA member number, and does not allow duplicate PIN and member number pairs.
3. Employers with many staff can prepare sheet M1 in the same format, save it as CSV and use the import button.
4. The NITA amount flows into the Tax Due sheet. Validate the return, upload the zip file, submit, and download the receipt.
5. Go to Payments, Payment Registration. Select tax head Agency Revenue, sub-head NITA Levy, and the period. The amount from the return is pre-filled.
6. Generate the payment slip and pay through your bank, mobile money or card. A copy of the slip goes to the iTax email.

Business Radar’s guide on how to file KRA returns on iTax walks through the iTax screens if you are new to the system.

The due date: 9th of the following month

When the 2022 amendment moved collection to KRA, the levy was due on the 5th of each month. A 2024 statute law amendment, assented to in April 2024, moved it to the 9th so that it lines up with PAYE, NSSF and the housing levy (Kenyans.co.ke report, 24 April 2024). The National Treasury’s Medium-Term Revenue Strategy also lists the training levy among the payroll items harmonised to the 9th.

Be careful with older instructions still online. NITA’s page still says the levy is payable on the last working day of the month and lists direct bank, banker’s cheque and M-Pesa paybill options, and KRA’s 2020-era iTax guide describes an annual payment. Both predate the current KRA monthly process. Use iTax, file with the PAYE return, and pay by the 9th. If anything in your account doesn’t match, ask KRA or NITA in writing and keep the reply.

Penalties for not paying

KRA’s iTax guide says late payment attracts a penalty of 5% a year, charged pro rata. Unpaid levy also shows as an outstanding liability on iTax, which can stop you getting a tax compliance certificate. That matters if you bid for government tenders or need a certificate for licences. Because the levy is filed inside the PAYE return, an error in sheet M1 can also hold up the whole PAYE filing.

What employers get back from NITA

The levy is not just a cost. NITA lists these benefits for levy-compliant employers:

• staff training costs taken over by NITA under the levy terms, locally and abroad, including economy air fare;
• full or partial reimbursement of approved training costs, provided you identify training needs and get NITA’s approval before the training; and
• industrial attachment opportunities and grants for employers who take attachment students.

The attachment grant is the one most employers miss. Our guide to NITA industrial attachment explains how placements are registered on ITAP, and the attachments hub lists current intakes.

Where the NITA levy fits in your payroll

Run any salary through our net salary calculator to see the employee deductions. The NITA levy won’t appear there because it isn’t deducted. For a full set of monthly and annual deadlines, see the payroll calendar on our employers hub and Business Radar’s NSSF contribution rates for 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Latest jobs in Kenya

• Assistant Fund Administrator · Fusion Estate Management Limited (FEM)
• Data Manager - Kisumu · Kenya Medical Research - KEMRI
• Assistant Risk and Compliance Officer · World Vision Kenya
• Video Content Producer · Ol Pejeta Conservancy (OPC)
• Finance Associate (3-Month Contract) · Red Giant Media Agency
• HSE Officer – Upstream Waste Management Project · WTS Energy

See all open jobs in Kenya →