Audited 27 Jul 2026·Last updated 28 Oct 2026·6 citations·Tier 2·0 uses

Kenya NITA Levy Calculator

Work out Kenya's NITA industrial training levy at KSh 50 per employee per month: the monthly amount, the total for 1–12 months and the KSh 600 a year check.

Kenya NITA Levy Calculator

Optional. Leave blank or enter 0 to skip the cross-check; KSh 600 is the published annual rate.
Monthly NITA levy payable
2,100.00
The levy for one month in KSh, employees × monthly rate, paid by the employer and not deducted from staff pay.
Total levy for selected months
25,200.00
Annual levy (monthly rate x 12)
25,200.00
Annual levy cross-check (annual rate)
25,200.00
Cross-check difference
0.00

Background.

KSh 50 per employee per month is the entire rate. Kenya's industrial training levy, collected by the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA), does not depend on salary, sector or job grade, so an employer with 42 staff pays KSh 2,100 a month whether those staff are casual labourers or senior engineers. Over a year that comes to KSh 25,200, the same as KSh 600 per employee per year.

What sets the levy apart from the rest of payroll is who bears it. NITA's Levy Inspectorate says in so many words that it is not a deduction from payroll. PAYE and the employee's shares of NSSF, SHIF and the housing levy come out of gross pay and appear on the payslip; the NITA levy does not. It is the employer's own cost, budgeted next to the employer's statutory contributions and never recovered from staff.

NITA asks every employer operating in Kenya to register as a levy payer, and the money is meant to come back as training. Under the authority's levy terms, compliant employers can have staff training costs met or reimbursed in part or in full, and employers who take on industrial attachment students can receive grants. The levy is due every month, on the last working day according to NITA, and it can be paid by bank deposit, banker's cheque or M-Pesa, quoting the employer's NITA registration number; cash is not accepted. The arithmetic below covers the amount only. It does not decide who counts as an employee, whether an exemption applies, or what follows from paying late.

What is kenya nita levy calculator?

The NITA levy is the statutory training levy charged under the Industrial Training Act (Cap. 237) and the Industrial Training (Training Levy) Order, and administered by NITA, the body responsible for regulating and promoting industrial training in Kenya. NITA's published rate is KSh 50 per employee per month, payable monthly; KSh 600 per employee per year is the same rate over twelve months. Because it is a flat amount per head rather than a percentage of pay, the bill moves only with the number of employees, by KSh 50 a month for each person added or removed.

How to use this calculator.

  1. Enter the number of employees on the payroll for the month, as a whole number of at least one.
  2. Leave the monthly rate at KSh 50, NITA's published figure, unless you are deliberately modelling a different rate.
  3. Set the number of months: 1 for a single remittance, 3 for a quarter, 12 for an annual budget.
  4. Leave the annual rate at KSh 600 to run the cross-check; if you changed the monthly rate, the difference line shows how far the two now disagree. Clear the box, or enter 0, to skip the cross-check: the annual-rate figure and the difference then both show 0.
  5. Book the monthly figure as an employer cost in your payroll records, not as a deduction against any employee's pay.

The formula.

L = N×r ; Period = L×m ; Annual = N×R
L · monthly NITA levyN · employee countr · monthly rate per employee (KSh 50)Period · levy for selected monthsm · number of monthsR · annual rate per employee (KSh 600)

Monthly levy = N × r, where N is the number of employees and r the monthly rate per employee (KSh 50). The total for the period is that monthly figure multiplied by m, the number of months chosen, from 1 to 12. Two annual figures sit beside it: N × r × 12, built from the monthly rate, and N × R, built from the annual rate R (KSh 600). The cross-check difference is the first minus the second. At the published rates it is always zero, because 50 × 12 = 600, so a non-zero difference simply means one of the two rates has been changed and they no longer describe the same charge. Everything is linear in headcount: each extra employee adds KSh 50 a month and KSh 600 a year, and doubling the workforce doubles the levy. The period total assumes the same headcount in every month of the period, so a workforce that changes during the year is better handled one month at a time.

A worked example.

Example

An employer has 42 people on the payroll and wants the monthly remittance and the year's budget. The monthly levy is 42 × KSh 50 = KSh 2,100. Over 12 months, KSh 2,100 × 12 = KSh 25,200. The cross-check works from the annual rate instead: 42 × KSh 600 = KSh 25,200, so the difference is zero and the two rates agree. The employer pays KSh 2,100 each month from its own funds, and every payslip stays exactly as it was. Headcount rarely holds still for a year. If the same firm employs 42 people from January to June and 50 from July, the year's levy is 42 × 50 × 6 + 50 × 50 × 6 = KSh 12,600 + KSh 15,000 = KSh 27,600. Budgeting the whole year at the year-end headcount of 50 would have given KSh 30,000.

months12
monthly Rate Per Employee Ksh50
employee Count42
annual Rate Per Employee Ksh600

Frequently asked questions.

Will my employees see the NITA levy on their payslips?
They should not. NITA states that the levy is not a deduction from payroll, so it is paid from the employer's funds and leaves gross and net pay untouched. If a payroll system lists it among employee deductions, that setting needs correcting; it belongs with employer costs alongside the employer's share of other statutory contributions.
When is the levy due, and how is it paid?
NITA's Levy Inspectorate page says the levy is payable monthly, on the last working day of the month. It can be paid by direct deposit to NITA's bank account, by banker's cheque in NITA's name or through M-Pesa, using the NITA registration number as the reference. Cash is not accepted. After paying, submit Form 2 with the proof of payment and keep the official receipt.
How does an employer register as a levy payer?
According to NITA, a new levy payer completes Application Form 1 and sends it with a copy of its registration certificate and a copy of its KRA PIN to the nearest NITA office or by email. Registration gives the employer the registration number used as the payment reference each month.
What does an employer get back for paying the levy?
NITA lists several benefits for compliant levy payers: staff training costs met by the authority under its levy terms and conditions, reimbursement in part or in full of training costs incurred on employees, and industrial attachment opportunities with grants for employers who host attachment students. Claims follow NITA's own approval process, which this arithmetic does not estimate.
Do casual workers, interns and contractors count towards the headcount?
The levy is charged per employee, so the count should match the people the business employs. Whether a particular casual worker, intern or outsourced contractor is an employee depends on the facts of the engagement and on the Industrial Training Act, so borderline cases are worth confirming with NITA or an adviser before a figure is filed.
Why would the cross-check difference ever be anything but zero?
Only because one rate was changed and the other was not. At KSh 50 a month and KSh 600 a year the two annual figures always match. If you enter a different monthly rate, perhaps to see what a revised levy would cost, the difference shows how much the year would change compared with KSh 600 per employee.

References& sources.

  1. [1]National Industrial Training Authority (n.d.). 'Levy Inspectorate.' NITA.
  2. [2]National Industrial Training Authority (n.d.). 'Mission, Vision and Mandate.' NITA.
  3. [3]National Council for Law Reporting (2024). 'Industrial Training Act, Cap. 237.' Kenya Law.
  4. [4]National Council for Law Reporting (2022). 'Industrial Training (Training Levy) Order.' Kenya Law.
  5. [5]National Industrial Training Authority (n.d.). 'NITA Downloads.' NITA.
  6. [6]National Industrial Training Authority (n.d.). 'NITA Portals.' NITA.

How this page was produced

Published by
Quanta Calculator
Overseen by
Daniel, Quanta Calculator Researcher
Primary sources
6 cited below
Method
L = N×r ; Period = L×m ; Annual = N×R
Published
Last verified

Built with AI assistance and verified by automated tests against the cited sources — every worked example on this page is computed by the same code that runs the calculator. How we build and check calculators.

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