Statutory payroll deductions in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, explained
What employers must withhold and remit in each of the three East African markets - and what changes when you run payroll across borders.
Running payroll in more than one East African country means learning three rule books. The principles are similar - income tax plus social security - but the rates, bases and filing dates differ.
Kenya
PAYE to KRA, NSSF (pension), SHIF (social health insurance) and the Affordable Housing Levy, all calculated monthly. Employers also pay the NITA training levy.
Uganda
PAYE to URA on progressive bands, NSSF at 5% from the employee and 10% from the employer, and Local Service Tax withheld from employees in many local governments.
Tanzania
PAYE to TRA, NSSF contributions from both employee and employer, and employer levies such as the Skills Development Levy and Workers Compensation Fund.
What good software does
It keeps each country's rules as data rather than hard-coded logic, so a rate change is an update to a table, not a software release - and it produces the payslip, the bank file and the remittance report from the same calculation, so the numbers always agree.
