Section 12

Time of supply of goods and services 

(1) Subject to subsection (3), the time of supply, including a supply of imported services, shall be the earlier of –

• (a) the date on which the goods are delivered or services performed; 
• (b) the date a certificate is issued by an architect, surveyor or any other person acting as a consultant in a supervisory capacity; 
• (c) the date on which the invoice for the supply is issued; or 
• (d) the date on which payment for the supply is received, in whole or in part. 

(1A) Subject to sub-section (1), in the case of the national carrier, the time of supply shall be the date on which the goods are delivered or services performed. (Finance Act 2023 wef 1st-July-2023 s32 )

(2) The time of supply of goods by means of a vending machine, meter, or other device operated by use of a coin, note, or token shall be on the date the coin, note, or token is taken from the machine, meter, or other device by or on behalf of the supplier.

(3) If –

• (a) goods are supplied under a rental agreement; or 
• (b) goods or services are made by metered supplies, or under an agreement or law that provides for periodic payments, 

the goods or services shall be treated as successively supplied for successive parts of the period of the lease or agreement, or as determined by law, and the time of each successive supply shall be the earlier of the date on which payment for the successive supply is due or received.

(4) The time of supply of imported goods shall be –

• (a) in the case of goods cleared for home use directly at the port of importation, or goods entered for removal to an inland station and there cleared for home use, at the time of customs clearance;
• (b) in the case of goods removed to a licensed warehouse subsequent to importation, at the time of final clearance from the warehouse for home use; 
• Finance Act, 2019Effective 7th November 2019 
• (c) in the case of goods removed from an export processing zone, or a special economic zone at the time of removal for home use;
• (d) in any other case, at the time the goods are brought into Kenya.

(5) The time supply for exported goods shall be the time when the certificate of export or such other equivalent export document has been issued by Customs. (TLAA 2024 wef 27th December, 2024 S18)

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