There's a conversation we have with almost every first-time importer.
They've found a car in Japan. They've got the auction sheet, the price, the photos. And they ask, reasonably: "So what's the duty on ¥1,200,000?"
The honest answer is that the question doesn't quite work — because KRA isn't going to tax the ¥1,200,000.
Understanding what KRA taxes instead is the single most useful thing you can learn about importing a car into Kenya. It explains why bargain-hunting at auction doesn't help as much as you'd expect, why two people pay wildly different tax on similar-looking cars, and where the real savings actually are.
What CRSP is
CRSP stands for Current Retail Selling Price. It's a reference price list maintained by the Kenya Revenue Authority covering thousands of vehicle models.
For each model and trim, CRSP records roughly what that vehicle would sell for new, in Kenya, today. It is not what you paid. It is not what the car is worth used. It's a standardised benchmark figure.
When your imported vehicle arrives, KRA finds it on the CRSP schedule, applies a depreciation discount for its age, and uses the result — the Customs Value — as the base for every tax you'll pay.
Why KRA works this way
The logic is straightforward once you see it from the revenue side. If tax were assessed on declared invoice values, invoices would get creative. A standardised reference schedule removes that incentive entirely: it doesn't matter what your paperwork says the car cost, because the valuation doesn't come from your paperwork.
It's worth knowing that KRA compares the CRSP-derived value against your declared value and generally works from whichever is higher. Under-declaring your purchase price achieves nothing except drawing attention.
How Customs Value is calculated
Two steps:
Step 1 — Find the CRSP figure for your exact model and trim.
Step 2 — Apply depreciation based on the vehicle's age. Older vehicles receive a larger discount, reducing the Customs Value.
CRSP × (1 − depreciation rate) = Customs Value
Depreciation increases with age on a stepped schedule, with the largest discount available to the oldest vehicle you can still legally import — which, under the 8-year rule, means a 2019 model for a 2026 clearance.
Everything downstream — import duty, excise, VAT, IDF, RDL — is calculated from that Customs Value.
Why "trim" matters far more than people realise
This is where estimates most often go wrong, and it's worth dwelling on.
CRSP entries are model- and trim-specific. A Toyota Land Cruiser Prado isn't one CRSP figure — it's several, depending on the exact variant, engine and specification. The same is true across most popular imports.
Two cars that look nearly identical in a listing can carry meaningfully different CRSP values, and therefore meaningfully different tax bills.
Which means:
- "A 2021 Prado" is not enough information to estimate duty
- Getting the trim wrong in your estimate can throw the final number off substantially
- The exact specification on the export documentation is what KRA will match against
When you're comparing two vehicles, the CRSP difference between them can matter more to your total cost than the difference in their auction prices.
What this means for how you shop
Here's the practical consequence, and it surprises most people:
Negotiating a better price on the same car barely changes your tax.
If you find the identical model, year and trim for ¥200,000 less at auction, you save that ¥200,000 on purchase — but your Customs Value doesn't move, so your duty is essentially unchanged.
Choosing a different vehicle changes everything.
A lower-CRSP model, a smaller engine, or an older eligible year all reduce your Customs Value directly — and because Kenyan import taxes compound, a reduction at the Customs Value level cascades through import duty, excise and VAT together.
So the leverage isn't in haggling. It's in model selection, and specifically in:
- Engine capacity — this drives your excise band, and the difference between bands is substantial
- Fuel type — electric vehicles attract preferential treatment; hybrids and diesels are treated differently from petrol
- Trim level — a lower trim of the same model can carry a noticeably lower CRSP
- Year — more age means more depreciation, though weigh this against condition and the timing risk near the 8-year boundary
CRSP is the starting point, not the final word
There's one more thing that catches people out, and it's important enough to state plainly.
A CRSP-based figure is not a guaranteed assessment. KRA retains full discretion to call any imported vehicle in for physical inspection and independent valuation — and to assess duty at a figure above what the CRSP schedule alone would suggest.
Grounds for a higher assessment can include:
- Actual condition differing from what a standard schedule entry assumes
- Specification or trim turning out to be higher than declared — a common trigger, since trim materially affects CRSP
- Modifications or enhancements — aftermarket wheels, body kits, upgraded interiors, performance parts
- Optional extras fitted at original purchase that push the vehicle above its base variant
- KRA's own appraisal of the vehicle where the officer's professional judgement differs from the schedule figure
In practice, most standard imports clear at or close to the CRSP-derived figure. But the possibility of an upward assessment is real, and it is entirely within KRA's authority.
What this means for you: treat any CRSP-based number — ours, anyone else's, or your own calculation — as a well-grounded estimate rather than a fixed quote. Leave headroom in your budget rather than committing to the last shilling, particularly if you're importing something with a high trim level, unusual specification, or visible modifications.
If you're importing a vehicle where this risk is material, discuss it with your clearing agent before you commit. They'll have a realistic sense of how vehicles like yours have actually been assessed.
The CRSP schedule is not static — and that matters
This is where it gets genuinely messy, and where you should be careful with any figure you read online, including ours.
The CRSP schedule gets revised. Those revisions have been contentious.
KRA attempted to roll out a comprehensively updated CRSP schedule effective 1 July 2025 — the first major revision since 2019, reflecting new models, exchange rate movements and changed tax rates. It was expected to raise valuations, and therefore duty, significantly.
The rollout was suspended by the High Court on 30 June 2025, the day before it was due to take effect. A petition — supported by the Car Importers Association of Kenya — argued that the revision lacked adequate public participation under Articles 10 and 201 of the Constitution, and that the schedule contained substantive errors including missing models, mismatched fuel types and inconsistent values for identical vehicles.
This wasn't unprecedented: a similar challenge in 2019 also resulted in a KRA valuation guide being struck down on public participation grounds.
What this means for you practically: which CRSP schedule applies to your import — and therefore what you'll actually pay — has been genuinely unsettled. Any online calculator, guide, or article is working from a snapshot of a moving target.
Before committing money to an import, confirm the current applicable CRSP schedule and rates with KRA or your clearing agent. This is not boilerplate caution. The difference between schedules can be substantial.
How to get a usable estimate
Given all of the above, a sensible approach:
- Pin down the exact vehicle — model, trim, engine capacity, fuel type, and year of first registration. Not "a Toyota Voxy," but the specific variant.
- Find the CRSP entry that matches that exact specification.
- Apply the age depreciation for the year of first registration.
- Work the tax ladder from the resulting Customs Value — import duty, then excise on top of that, then VAT on top of both, plus IDF and RDL on the Customs Value.
- Add the non-tax costs — freight, insurance, port charges, clearing agent, NTSA registration, inland transport.
- Confirm current rates before you commit.
That's a lot of steps to do by hand, which is why we built a calculator that runs the whole ladder from the actual CRSP figure for a specific vehicle rather than a generic percentage.
→ Try the landed cost calculator on any vehicle in our stock
Frequently asked questions
Where can I look up the CRSP value for a specific car? KRA publishes the CRSP schedule. Our calculator works directly from it, so you can find a value for a specific model and trim without working through the raw list.
Why is my duty higher than a friend's on a similar car? Most often, different trim or engine capacity. A higher trim can carry a higher CRSP, and a larger engine can push you into a higher excise band. Both cascade through the compounding tax ladder. Year of first registration also affects the depreciation applied.
If I buy a damaged or high-mileage car cheaply, do I pay less duty? Generally no. CRSP is a standardised reference figure, not a condition assessment. A high-mileage example of a given model carries broadly the same CRSP as a low-mileage one. KRA does retain discretion to assess individual vehicles, but you shouldn't plan around condition reducing your tax.
Does CRSP apply to brand-new vehicles too? The CRSP framework is specifically about establishing customs value for imported used vehicles. New vehicle imports are handled differently.
Is CRSP the same as the car's market value in Kenya? No, and this is a common confusion. CRSP approximates the new retail price of that model. Your depreciated Customs Value is a tax base, not a valuation of what your specific used car is worth on the Kenyan market.
Which CRSP schedule is currently in force? This has been the subject of legal proceedings, and the position has shifted. Confirm with KRA or your clearing agent before committing — this genuinely affects what you'll pay.
Get a real number, not a rule of thumb
CRSP valuation is the part of Kenyan car importing that's least understood and most consequential. Percentage rules of thumb break down quickly once trim, engine capacity, fuel type and year all come into play.
Every vehicle in our Japan stock carries a landed cost estimate calculated from the actual CRSP value for that exact model — showing the full duty breakdown, line by line, before you commit to anything.
→ Browse Japan stock with CRSP-based landed cost estimates
We import and clear vehicles end to end. If you want a straight answer on what a specific car will cost you on the road in Nairobi — including the parts most calculators leave out — talk to us.