Related documents
- Is amended by Estate Duty (Abolition) Act
- Is amended by Law of Succession Act

LAWS OF KENYA
ESTATE DUTY ACT
CAP. 483
- Published in Kenya Gazette on 13 August 1963
- Assented to on 7 August 1963
- Commenced on 12 June 1963
- [Amended by Kenya (Amendment of Laws) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.7) Order, 1964 (Legal Notice 374 of 1964) on 12 December 1963]
- [Amended by Finance Act, 1967 (Act No. 20 of 1967) on 1 January 1968]
- [Amended by Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 1969 (Act No. 10 of 1969) on 27 June 1969]
- [Amended by Finance Act, 1972 (Act No. 10 of 1972) on 16 July 1972]
- [Amended by Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 1976 (Act No. 6 of 1976) on 4 June 1976]
- [Amended by Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 1978 (Act No. 13 of 1978) on 10 November 1978]
- [Amended by Finance Act, 1980 (Act No. 10 of 1980) on 20 June 1980]
- [Amended by Law of Succession Act (Cap. 160) on 1 July 1981]
- [Amended by Statute Law (Repeals and Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 1981 (Act No. 10 of 1981) on 13 November 1981]
- [Amended by Estate Duty (Abolition) Act (Act No. 10 of 1982) on 28 June 1982]
- [Amended by Statute Law (Repeal and Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 1991 (Act No. 14 of 1991) on 27 December 1991]
Part I — PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Estate Duty Act.2. Interpretation
Part II – OFFICERS
3. Appointment of Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioners
4. Proof of Documents
Any document purporting to record, contain or be any act, decision, statement, requirement, notice, valuation or assessment of or by the Commissioner and purporting to be signed by him and any document purporting to record, contain or be an act, decision, statement, requirement, notice, valuation or assessment of or by the Deputy or an Assistant Estate Duty Commissioner and purporting to be signed by him shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been so signed and to have been made by the Commissioner, or the Deputy or an Assistant Estate Duty Commissioner, as the case may be, and may be proved by the production of a copy thereof purporting to be so signed.5. Indemnity of officers.
The Commissioner shall not, nor shall any person acting under his authority, be personally liable for or in respect of any act or matter done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise or purported exercise of the powers conferred by this Act, nor shall he be personally liable for any costs awarded against him under this Act.6. Official secrecy
Part III — IMPOSITION OF ESTATE DUTY — EXEMPTIONS AND ALLOWANCES
7. Imposition of estate duty.
8. Property which has changed in character
9. Accruals
For the purposes of this Act, wherever any property is augmented by the accrual of any further property derived from, attributable to or accruing by virtue of the ownership of the property so augmented, such further property shall be deemed to be part of the property so augmented.10. Shares of income
Where estate duty is leviable under section 7(1)(b) of this Act, and the interest ceasing on death extended to part only of the income from the property, estate duty shall be payable on the proportion of the property which the amount of the income to which the deceased or other person, as the case may be, was entitled during the three years immediately preceding the death bore to the income from the property during those years or, where the deceased or other person was entitled to the interest for a lesser period than the said three years, on the like proportion during that lesser period.11. Property enjoyed jointly or according to a discretion.
Where estate duty is leviable under section 7 (1) (c) of this Act, estate duty shall be payable on—12. Policies of assurance.
13. Exemption of certain gifts.
14. Exemption of certain property outside Kenya.
No estate duty shall be payable on any property situate outside Kenya at the time of the death of the deceased unless it is movable property and15. Exemption of property bequeathed for public purposes
No estate duty shall be payable on any property bequeathed absolutely to the Government or for a public purpose declared by the Minister to be a public purpose for the purposes of this section or which passes absolutely on the death of the deceased to the Government.16. Exemption of property belonging to office or charity
No estate duty shall be payable on any property the interest in which of the deceased was only an interest as holder of an office or recipient of the benefits of a charity or as a corporation sole.17. Exemption on successive deaths of husband and wife
18. Allowance for funeral expenses and debts
19. Allowance in respect of duties paid in other countries
20. Allowance in case of quick succession
Part IV – RATES OF DUTY AND AGGREGATION OF PROPERTY
21. Rates of duty
The rates of estate duty shall be those set out in the First Schedule to this Act.22. Relief for marginal estates
23. Aggregation of property
For determining the rate of estate duty to be paid, all property liable for estate duty on the death of any person shall be aggregated to form a single estate, and estate duty shall be levied on all such property at the rate appropriate to the value of that estate:Provided that where any property liable to estate duty on the death of any person is property—Part V – VALUATION
24. Basis of valuation
25. Ascertainment of value
Subject to the provisions of this Part, the Commissioner may ascertain the value of any property for the purpose of assessing estate duty in such manner and by such means as he may think fit.26. Valuation of shares and debentures in certain companies
27. Establishment of Valuation Appeals Tribunal
28. Objections to and appeals against valuation
Part VI – ACCOUNTABILITY AND ASSESSMENT
29. Duty to render account
30. Power to require information
31. Assessment of duty
32. Appeals against decisions other than on valuation
33. Special provisions for trustees
Part VII – PAYMENT OF DUTY
34. Liability for payment
35. Companies liable to pay duty on shares in certain circumstances
If in any register of members kept in Kenya a company registers any transfer of its shares by an administrator who has not obtained a grant of representation in Kenya, the company shall be liable to pay the estate duty leviable in respect of those shares in default of payment, by the person liable therefore under section 34 of this Act36. Time for payment
Subject to the provisions of sections 38, 39 and 40 of this Act, estate duty shall be paid within twenty-eight days of the service of a notice of assessment under section 31(1) of this Act.37. Interest on duty
38. Right to defer payment of duty on interests in expectancy
Where an estate includes an interest in expectancy, the payment of estate duty in respect of that interest may, at the option of the person liable for the duty, be postponed until the interest is disposed of or falls into possession, whichever first happens, and where payment is so postponed interest at the rate of nine per cent per annum shall be payable thereon from twenty-eight days after the date of the disposition or the date the interest in expectancy falls into possession, as the case may be until the date of payment.39. Right to pay duty by instalments in certain cases
40. Power to extend time, for payment in certain cases
Where the Commissioner is satisfied that any estate duty cannot without excessive sacrifice be raised at once, he may allow payment to be postponed for such period and to such extent, on payment of such interest not exceeding nine per cent per annum or the rate yielded by the property concerned, whichever is the greater, and on such terms generally, as the Commissioner may think fit.41. Power to accept properly in lieu of duty
The Minister may, if he is satisfied that it is in the public interest, authorize the Commissioner to accept any part of the property liable to estate duty on a death in lieu of the estate duty or any part thereof or interest thereon, and any such property shall be transferred to the Government.42. Power to remit trivial amounts
The Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, remit any estate duty or any interest thereon when the amount appears to him to be so small as not to justify the expense and trouble of calculation and collection.43. Refund of duly
If it is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that any person has paid more estate duty than that for which he was liable, the Commissioner shall refund the amount overpaid:Provided that, where a refund is claimed after the expiry of three years from the date the excess was paid, such refund shall not be made unless the Minister so directs.Part VIII – RECOVERY OF DUTY
44. Unpaid duty a debt to Government
Subject to the provisions of sections 38, 39 and 40 of this Act, all estate duty not paid within twenty-eight days of the service of a notice of assessment shall be recoverable from the person liable by civil suit as a debt due to the Government.45. Recovery of duty
46. Stay of execution pending appeal
Where, in any proceedings for the recovery of estate duty or for the discharge of an order for payment of estate duty, it appears that an appeal as to the valuation of any property, or against the decision of the Commissioner, is pending or that the time for so appealing has not yet elapsed, the court may if it thinks fit grant a stay of execution for such period and on such terms, including the payment of such interest as is provided for in section 40 of this Act, as it may think just.47. Estate duty a charge on property
Part IX – MISCELLANEOUS
48. Presumption as to domicile
A person who immediately before his death was ordinarily resident in Kenya shall for the purposes of this Act, in the absence of proof of any domicile elsewhere, be presumed to have died domiciled in Kenya.49. Representation not to be granted without certificate as to duty
50. Certificate of discharge
51. Service of notices
Any notice required to be served under this Act shall be sufficiently served if it is left at the last known place of abode or business in Kenya of the person to be served, or if it is sent by registered post addressed to him by name at his last known postal address in Kenya and is not returned as undelivered by the Post Office.52. Arrangements for relief from double estate duty
53. Certified true copies of affidavits
The Commissioner shall on request provide certified copies of estate duty affidavits, corrective affidavits or statements and assessments to the administrator or his duly authorized representative, on payment of the prescribed fee.54. Inventory and accounts to be delivered
The administrator of an estate shall deliver to the Commissioner a copy of the inventory and of all accounts required to be made under section 98 of the Probate and Administration Act, 1881 (No. 5 of 1881) and section 277 of the Indian Succession Act, 1865 (No. 10 of 1865).55. Power of entry
56. Rules
The Minister may make rules for the better carrying into effect of the provisions of this Act, and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, may prescribe—57. Limitation of operation of Cap. 257 (1948)
No estate duty within the meaning of the Estate Duty Act shall be levied under that Act on any property which passes on the death of any person dying on or after the 29 th April, 1959.58. Repeal of Act 43 of 1959
The Estate Duty (Abolition) Act, 1959, is repealedHistory of this document
27 December 1991 this version
28 June 1982
Amended by
Estate Duty (Abolition) Act
Read this version
13 November 1981
01 July 1981
Amended by
Law of Succession Act
Read this version
20 June 1980
Amended by
Finance Act, 1980
Read this version
10 November 1978
04 June 1976
16 July 1972
Amended by
Finance Act, 1972
Read this version
27 June 1969
01 January 1968
Amended by
Finance Act, 1967
Read this version
12 December 1963
13 August 1963
07 August 1963
Assented to
12 June 1963
Commenced
Cited documents 2
Act 2
1. | Nurses and Midwives Act | 17 citations |
2. | Estate Duty (Abolition) Act | 3 citations |
Documents citing this one 7
Act 3
1. | Records Disposal Act | 8 citations |
2. | Public Trustee Act | 5 citations |
3. | Estate Duty (Abolition) Act | 3 citations |
Gazette 2
1. | Kenya Gazette Vol. LXVI-No. 1 | |
2. | Kenya Gazette Vol. LXVIII-No. 12 |
Legal Notice 2
1. | The Statutory Instruments (Exemption from Expiry) Regulations | 1 citation |
2. | The Statutory Instruments (Exemption from Expiry) Regulations |