Foreign Mining and Petroleum Firms Face 15% Repatriation Tax in New Bill

The National Assembly has published the Finance Bill 2026, introducing a 15 percent tax on profits transferred outside the country by mining and petroleum companies.

According to official state communications published under the legislative banner of the National Assembly, the proposed fiscal measure explicitly targets profits repatriated by foreign extractive operators to their overseas parent entities.

The primary objective of the tax is to establish a framework where Kenya derives greater financial utility from its domestic mineral and hydrocarbon endowments.

By taxing profits before they exit the jurisdiction, the government intends to retain a more substantial portion of the wealth generated from local extraction sites.

Extractive industry operations, which often involve substantial international capital, will see their fiscal obligations adjusted to require direct payments to the state prior to any cross-border funds transfer.

State documentation underscores several core justifications for the policy, asserting that the levy ensures the country secures a fair return on its natural resources.

The resulting revenue is earmarked to support the broader funding of public services, national infrastructure projects, and regional development programs.

Furthermore, lawmakers indicate that the intervention is designed to promote transparency and accountability within the extractive industry, while encouraging investment practices that remain responsible to the domestic population.

The introduction of the text follows ongoing legislative reviews by parliament aimed at broadening the domestic tax base and altering how multinational corporations account for local resource exploitation.

Under the proposed guidelines, multinational corporations operating in the mining and oil sectors will no longer be permitted to move Kenyan-earned profits to foreign parent entities without the 15 percent deduction being applied at the source.

The measure represents a direct attempt by the state to mitigate capital flight in asset-heavy sectors, aligning the country with regional peers seeking greater control over their sovereign natural wealth.