COFEK Moves to the High Court Against KRA Over “Catch-22” eTIMS Deactivations

Kenya’s apex consumer lobby, the Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK), has moved to the High Court to challenge what it calls an unlawful and self-defeating practice by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA): switching off taxpayers’ access to the Electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS) over unpaid penalties — even when the underlying principal tax has been fully paid or is nil. In a Constitutional Petition filed on 27th August 2026 by Tali Tali Advocates, COFEK names KRA and its Commissioner-General as respondents, with the Attorney-General joined as an interested party

The petition, filed under a Certificate of Urgency alongside a Notice of Motion and Chamber Summons seeking to be heard during the High Court’s August Vacation, targets a practice COFEK says traps taxpayers in a compliance loop with no exit.

Core complaint: The eTIMS, established under Section 23A of the Tax Procedures Act, 2015, is the mandatory system through which businesses generate compliant electronic tax invoices and report transactions to KRA. COFEK’s petition cites a documented case — backed by a taxpayer ledger and a system screenshot exhibited in the supporting affidavit — where a taxpayer owed no principal tax but had outstanding penalties.

Attempting to invoice through eTIMS, the taxpayer was met with a blunt system message: “This eTIMS Solution has been deactivated. Please consult your tax office for further assistance.” COFEK argues this creates an impossible bind: the law still requires the taxpayer to issue electronic invoices for every sale, yet KRA has cut off the only lawful means of doing so.

Businesses are left to either halt operations or trade without compliant invoices — risking fresh penalties for the very non-compliance the deactivation supposedly punishes.

The petition contends the fallout also hits innocent third parties, since customers of deactivated taxpayers cannot obtain compliant invoices for their own tax accounting, despite bearing no responsibility for the supplier’s default. The legal challenge: COFEK’s central argument is one of legality: neither the Tax Procedures Act nor the Tax Procedures (Electronic Tax Invoice) Regulations, 2024 expressly authorise KRA to deactivate eTIMS as an enforcement tool for outstanding penalties.

Existing law already gives KRA assessment and recovery powers for unpaid taxes, penalties and interest — making the eTIMS lockout, in COFEK’s view, an invented sanction outside Parliament’s framework. The petition invokes Articles 1, 2, 3, 10, 19–24, 27, 40, 46, 47, 48, 165, 201, 210, 232, 258 and 259 of the Constitution, alleging violations of the doctrine of legality, fair administrative action (no notice, no reasons, no hearing before deactivation), equal protection, property rights, and consumer protection under Article 46. What COFEK wants: The petition seeks declarations that the practice is unlawful and unconstitutional, an order of certiorari quashing it, a prohibition barring future deactivations on these grounds absent express legal authority, and mandamus compelling KRA to restore access for affected taxpayers — all without waiving any penalties or interest genuinely owed. Key Issue: The case lands as KRA leans harder on eTIMS to close Kenya’s VAT and income tax compliance gaps.

If COFEK succeeds, it would draw a firm line between KRA’s revenue-recovery powers and administrative tools that, however well-intentioned, can end up throttling the very compliance they are meant to enforce — with ripple effects for thousands of small businesses relying on the system daily.