PAYE Calculator Kenya
Work out PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and the Affordable Housing Levy on any Kenyan salary, with net pay and employer cost in seconds.
Kenya PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and Housing Levy Calculator
Enter a monthly salary to see PAYE, each statutory deduction, take-home pay and what the employee really costs the business — calculated the same way saloPoint calculates a Kenyan payroll.
Your monthly salary
Type the gross salary, or drag the slider, to see how the deductions change.
Optional deductions and reliefs
Deductible up to the lowest of your contribution, 30% of pensionable pay, or KES 30,000 a month.Insurance relief is 15% of the premium you pay, capped at KES 5,000 of relief a month.Deductible up to KES 30,000 a month on an owner-occupied home. It reduces your tax but is not taken out of your salary here.Statutory deductions to include
6% of the first KES 9,000 (Tier I) plus 6% of KES 9,001–108,000 (Tier II), so up to KES 6,480 a month — matched by the employer. NSSF advises these limits under the Act, so confirm the current ceiling on the NSSF portal.
Estimated take-home pay
KES 45,311.65
per month, after PAYE and statutory deductions
Total deductions
KES 14,688.35
24.5% of gross pay
How the PAYE was worked out
Taxable pay of KES 53,850.00 is taxed band by band, then your reliefs are subtracted.
What the employer pays on top
NSSF and the Housing Levy are also payable by the employer, so this salary costs the business more than the gross figure.
PAYE, NSSF and SHIF are due by the 9th of the following month and the Housing Levy by the 9th working day after the payroll month.
Estimate only. As on KRA's own PAYE calculator, NSSF, SHIF and the employee Housing Levy are deducted from gross pay before tax, so all three reduce the PAYE as well as take-home pay; a registered pension and deductible mortgage interest reduce it further. Statutory rates, bands and reliefs change, and individual cases differ, so confirm the current figures on the KRA, NSSF and SHA portals. Printed payslips, P9/P10/P10A reports and the same calculations run automatically in saloPoint payroll software, and you can ask us to check your payroll setup.
How PAYE Is Calculated in Kenya
Every payslip in Kenya follows the same five steps. Once you can follow them, you can check any payroll — yours or your employer's.
Start with gross monthly pay
Gross pay is the basic salary plus taxable allowances, overtime, commission and taxable benefits — everything the employee earns before any deduction.
Subtract the allowable deductions
NSSF at 6% of pensionable earnings up to the current earnings limits, SHIF at 2.75%, the 1.5% employee Affordable Housing Levy, registered pension contributions and deductible mortgage interest all come off gross pay to give taxable pay.
Apply the PAYE bands to taxable pay
Taxable pay is taxed in slices — 10% on the first KES 24,000, 25% on the next KES 8,333, 30% on the next KES 467,667 up to KES 500,000, 32.5% on the next KES 300,000 up to KES 800,000, and 35% above that. Adding the slices gives gross tax.
Subtract your reliefs
Every resident employee gets KES 2,400 of personal relief each month, plus insurance relief of 15% of qualifying premiums. Reliefs reduce the tax itself, not the income.
Check net pay — and the employer cost
Net pay is gross pay less PAYE, NSSF, SHIF, the Housing Levy and any pension the employee contributes. On top of that, the employer pays its own NSSF and 1.5% Housing Levy.
What this calculator assumes
We would rather show you the rules than hide them. These are the figures the calculator uses, and where a figure can change we say so.
- ✓NSSF is calculated at 6% of the first KES 9,000 (Tier I) plus 6% of pay between KES 9,001 and KES 108,000 (Tier II), for both employee and employer — up to KES 6,480 a month each. Those two limits are advised by NSSF under the Act rather than fixed in law, so confirm the current ceiling on the NSSF portal, or switch the NSSF control to enter your own figure. NSSF is deducted from taxable pay as well as take-home pay.
- ✓SHIF is calculated at 2.75% of gross monthly salary. A statutory minimum contribution can apply to low earners — confirm the current position with SHA.
- ✓The Affordable Housing Levy is 1.5% of gross monthly salary for the employee, matched by 1.5% from the employer.
- ✓PAYE bands applied: 10% on the first KES 24,000; 25% on KES 24,001 to KES 32,333; 30% on KES 32,334 to KES 500,000; 32.5% on KES 500,001 to KES 800,000; and 35% above KES 800,000. Personal relief is KES 2,400 a month.
- ✓Pension relief is limited to the lowest of the actual contribution, 30% of pensionable pay, or KES 30,000 a month.
- ✓Insurance relief is 15% of premiums paid, capped at KES 5,000 of relief a month.
- ✓Mortgage interest on an owner-occupied home is deductible up to KES 30,000 a month. It reduces tax but is not deducted from salary.
- ✓The calculator ignores other taxable benefits, tax-exempt allowances, previous-employer income and expatriate concessions, any of which can change the result.
Kenya PAYE Bands and Statutory Rates
These are the figures KRA applies today: five monthly PAYE bands (the top two at 32.5% and 35% for higher earners), the NSSF, SHIF and Housing Levy rates, and the reliefs that reduce the tax.
Monthly PAYE tax bands
Applied to taxable pay, band by band.
| Taxable pay | Rate | Tax on the full band |
|---|---|---|
| First KES 24,000 | 10% | KES 2,400.00 |
| Next KES 8,333 (KES 24,001 – 32,333) | 25% | KES 2,083.25 |
| Next KES 467,667 (KES 32,334 – 500,000) | 30% | KES 140,300.10 |
| Next KES 300,000 (KES 500,001 – 800,000) | 32.5% | KES 97,500.00 |
| Amounts above KES 800,000 | 35% | No limit |
NSSF Tier I
Employee: 6% of the first KES 9,000 (max KES 540)
Employer: 6% (max KES 540)
NSSF Tier II
Employee: 6% of KES 9,001 – 108,000 (max KES 5,940)
Employer: 6% (max KES 5,940)
SHIF / SHA
Employee: 2.75% of gross monthly salary
Employer: Deducted and remitted by the employer
Affordable Housing Levy
Employee: 1.5% of gross monthly salary
Employer: 1.5% of gross monthly salary
Reliefs and allowable deductions
Reliefs reduce the tax you pay; allowable deductions come off gross pay before PAYE is calculated.
KES 2,400 a month (KES 28,800 a year) for every resident employee.
15% of life or health insurance premiums paid, capped at KES 5,000 of relief a month.
Deductible up to the lowest of the actual contribution, 30% of pensionable pay, or KES 30,000 a month.
Interest on an owner-occupied home is deductible up to KES 30,000 a month.
What comes off gross pay before tax: NSSF, SHIF at 2.75%, the employee Affordable Housing Levy at 1.5%, registered pension contributions (capped) and mortgage interest on an owner-occupied home. All of them reduce taxable pay, which is the same treatment KRA's own PAYE calculator applies — so a change to the NSSF contribution does move the PAYE.
On the NSSF limits: the 6% rate is set by the NSSF Act, but the lower and upper earnings limits that cap it are advised by NSSF from time to time and have risen since the Act took effect. The calculator uses KES 9,000 and KES 108,000 (a maximum of KES 6,480 a month from each side) — confirm the current limits on the NSSF portal, or use the NSSF control in the calculator above to enter your own figure.
⚠️ Statutory rates, bands and reliefs change. Always confirm the current figures on the official KRA, NSSF and SHA portals before using them for a real payroll — and remember that saloPoint is updated whenever they change.
PAYE and Net Pay Worked Examples
The same calculation, run at four salary levels — including a KES 600,000 salary that reaches the 32.5% band. These are the figures the calculator above produces when only the statutory deductions apply.
KES 30,000 gross
- NSSF Tier I & Tier IIKES 1,800.00
- SHIF / SHA (2.75%)KES 825.00
- Affordable Housing Levy (1.5%)KES 450.00
- Taxable payKES 26,925.00
- PAYE (after KES 2,400 relief)KES 731.25
- Total deductionsKES 3,806.25
KES 60,000 gross
- NSSF Tier I & Tier IIKES 3,600.00
- SHIF / SHA (2.75%)KES 1,650.00
- Affordable Housing Levy (1.5%)KES 900.00
- Taxable payKES 53,850.00
- PAYE (after KES 2,400 relief)KES 8,538.35
- Total deductionsKES 14,688.35
KES 150,000 gross
- NSSF Tier I & Tier IIKES 6,480.00
- SHIF / SHA (2.75%)KES 4,125.00
- Affordable Housing Levy (1.5%)KES 2,250.00
- Taxable payKES 137,145.00
- PAYE (after KES 2,400 relief)KES 33,526.85
- Total deductionsKES 46,381.85
KES 600,000 gross
- NSSF Tier I & Tier IIKES 6,480.00
- SHIF / SHA (2.75%)KES 16,500.00
- Affordable Housing Levy (1.5%)KES 9,000.00
- Taxable payKES 568,020.00
- PAYE (after KES 2,400 relief)KES 164,489.85
- Total deductionsKES 196,469.85
Change the salary, add a pension or an insurance premium in the calculator above to see how each figure moves — and read the step-by-step PAYE guide for the full arithmetic.
Recalculate with my salaryFor Employers: Payroll Cost and Remittance Dates
A salary is not the whole cost of an employee, and calculating the deductions is only half the job for a Kenyan employer. The other half is paying the right people by the right date.
Employer NSSF match
The employer contributes the same amount as the employee — up to KES 540 in Tier I and KES 5,940 in Tier II, so up to KES 6,480 a month per employee.
Employer Housing Levy
A further 1.5% of each employee’s gross monthly salary, paid on top of salary and not recovered from the employee.
Itemised payslips
Every employee is entitled to a written payslip showing gross pay, each deduction and net pay. Generating them by hand is where employers quietly fall behind.
Monthly and annual returns
PAYE returns are filed monthly (P10 with its P10A schedule), and P9 tax deduction cards are issued for each employee at the end of the tax year.
When each deduction must reach the authority
Late remittance attracts penalties and interest, even when the deductions were calculated correctly.
| Deduction | Due date | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| PAYE (and the Housing Levy declared in the P10) | By the 9th of the following month | KRA iTax |
| NSSF contributions (employee + employer) | By the 9th of the following month | NSSF |
| SHIF contributions | By the 9th of the following month | Social Health Authority |
| Affordable Housing Levy | By the 9th working day after the payroll month | KRA iTax |
Deadlines are the generally published dates — confirm the current dates and any extensions on the KRA, NSSF and SHA portals.
Stop doing this in a spreadsheet
saloPoint calculates PAYE, NSSF Tier I and II, SHIF and the Housing Levy for every employee, prints the payslips and bank files, and produces the P9, P10 and P10A reports from the same payroll run.
PAYE Calculator FAQ
Common questions about PAYE, NSSF, SHIF, the Housing Levy and Kenyan payroll calculations
Kenyan Payroll Guides
The arithmetic behind the calculator, explained step by step for each statutory deduction.
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