You may have encountered a problem while opening the excel sheet that is downloaded from the Kenya Revenue Authority’s iTax portal. And yes, you may not be alone. Many individuals are experiencing problems related to filing of their individual income tax returns. This can be very frustrating, indeed.

One main requirement is that you must have a Service Pack 2 and above of the Microsoft Office 2007 Program that is being used. You can either get a latest version of Office or simply update the current office 7 program to Service Pack 2 (Check out for the guide).

Similarly, you must have Macros enabled on your excel program in order to manipulate/ edit the downloaded excel returns sheet. A macro is a series of commands that you can use to automate a repeated task, and can be run when you have to perform the task.

How to enable Macros.

There are so many ways of enabling Macros in your excel program. One of the ways involves enabling Macros in the Trust Centre. This way, you would not be required to enable Macros every time it is required. Macro settings are located in the Trust Center. When you change your macro settings in the Trust Center, they are changed only for the Office program that you are currently using. The macro settings are not changed for all your Office programs.

Follow the steps below to enable Macros in Excel:

  • Click the File tab/ icon from the Menu bar.
  • Next, click on Options.
  • Now, select Trust Center followed by Trust Center Settings.
  • In the Trust Center, click Macro Settings.

Finally, select ‘enable all macros’ and Click on ‘OK’.

Then, reopen your excel spreadsheet to declare your returns.

Check on this site for a complete, simplified, guide on how to declare KRA tax returns.