KRA office. [Courtesy]
The Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) Customs and Border Control Department has opened the 2026-27 financial year with a record Sh92.53 billion in revenue collected in July 2026, surpassing the National Treasury’s target of Sh86.16 billion.
This represents a performance rate of 107.39 per cent against the target and is up from the Sh80.29 billion realised in July 2025, reflecting 15.3 per cent year-on-year growth.
The July performance builds on an already elevated base. In June 2026, Customs posted Sh89.1 billion, which at the time was the department’s highest-ever monthly collection.
The back-to-back records in June and July, the taxman said, point to sustained momentum in revenue mobilisation.
A significant pillar of July’s outcome was the surge in non-oil revenue, which reached Sh61.50 billion. For the first time, non-oil customs collections in a single month exceeded the Sh60 billion mark in KRA's history.
The strong non-oil performance suggests that revenue growth is broad-based and not solely dependent on import duty from fuel, indicating resilient trade volumes and enhanced compliance across a wider basket of taxable imports.
Beyond the headline numbers, the July outcome also strengthens the broader fiscal position. Customs now contributes a large portion to the tax agency's overall income, which helps reduce the gap in funding the budget and lessens the need for borrowing within the country. Consistently exceeding monthly goals ensures the department supplies the National Treasury with steady cash inflows. This, in turn, aids in executing crucial government initiatives on time and lowers the chances of sudden mid-year spending reductions.