EPZ Program

All licensed EPZ companies, enjoy the following incentives, as established by the EPZ Act;

Fiscal Incentives

• 10-year Corporate Tax Holiday and 25% tax thereafter (not applicable to EPZ commercial licenses)
• 10-year Withholding Tax Holiday on remittances to non-residents (not applicable to EPZ commercial licenses).
• 100% investment deduction on new investment in EPZ buildings and machinery, applicable over 20 years.
• Perpetual exemption from payment of stamp duty on legal instruments
• Perpetual exemption from VAT and customs import duty on inputs – raw materials, machinery, office equipment, certain petroleum fuel for boilers and generators, building materials, other supplies. VAT exemption also applies on local purchases of goods and services supplied by companies in the Kenyan customs territory or domestic market. Motor vehicles which do not remain within the zone are not eligible for tax exemption.

Procedural Incentives

• Operation under essentially one license issued by EPZA. EPZA seeks to minimize bureaucracy and administrative procedures and facilitate licensing, set up and operations of EPZ projects. This includes exemption from compliance with various laws such as the Import, Export and Essential Supplies Act, the Standards Act, the Industrial Registration Act, the Factories Act, and the Statistics Act. The EPZ Authority acts as the primary licensing and regulatory agency on behalf of the government, and collects the necessary information and data from the companies
• Rapid Project approval and licensing within 30 days (with exception of projects requiring environmental license from National Environmental Management Agency NEMA)
• No Exchange Controls – liberalized foreign exchange regime and easy repatriation of capital and profits, access to foreign currency accounts, domestic and offshore borrowing.
• Onsite customs documentation and inspection by Customs Staff. All zones have a resident Customs office for on-site customs documentation and clearance. A Senior Revenue Officer is attached to the EPZA management to assist in all matters relating to customs and excise.
• Unrestricted investment by foreigners
• One Stop Shop service for facilitation and aftercare – EPZA Investor Support Division assists new companies and provide help and advice in the areas of staff recruitment, labour regulations, work permits, import-export logistics, application for utility connections, and registration with tax authorities etc.