Payroll Statutory Calendar

Each payroll run carries four obligations, and every one is filed monthly. PAYE is deducted from workers on regular contracts, with NSSF contributions alongside it. SHIF replaced NHIF in October 2024 and is charged at 2.75% of gross monthly salary with no upper cap. The Affordable Housing Levy adds 1.5% from the employee and 1.5% from the employer. All four returns are due by the 9th of the following month.

The deadline only feels sudden when the work is left until the last week. Run the month in this order and the 9th stops being a scramble.

• Set the payroll cut-off so all attendance for the period is captured.
• Lock the muster roll — no edits after this point without a recorded adjustment.
• Run payroll and confirm every M-Pesa B2C wage payment has settled.
• Reconcile the actual wage cost against the deductions calculated.
• Prepare and file PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and housing levy returns by the 9th.
• Pay over the deductions remitted and keep the filing references on file.

The heaviest task is worker data, not arithmetic. Keep each worker's ID, KRA PIN, NSSF number and SHIF details current, because a missing number stalls a return whether the tax is correct or not. Casual daily workers still need accurate records of days worked and pay received. If your payroll system calculates the deductions from the same locked muster roll that produced the wages, the numbers on the return match the numbers paid — which removes the reconciliation that eats the first week of the month.

Late statutory returns bring penalties and interest, and repeated lateness puts you in the way of enforcement at the worst possible time. The hidden cost is worse: a return that does not reconcile with the payslips you issued is a compliance weakness that stretches well beyond the fine. Filing on time, from one clean set of payroll records, keeps a contractor's attention where it belongs — on the site.