Closing cost ledger
What land really costs to close.
A live ledger for both sides of a Kenyan land deal: the buyer’s stamp duty, legal fee and VAT, or the seller’s net proceeds after capital gains tax — with the official charges that still need confirming named rather than guessed.
Useful when you are
- Budgeting for a plot or a home
- Working out what a sale actually leaves you
- Comparing land inside and outside a municipality
- Buying from abroad and planning the transfer
- Checking a quote before you instruct an advocate
Closing ledger and items still to confirm
Still to confirm
These are payable but not calculable here: they are set per property, per county and per registry, so they are named rather than guessed at. The subtotal above excludes every line below.
Indicative only. The subtotal excludes unassessed official, county, lender and other transaction charges. A written quote, official assessments and your tax adviser control the final figure.
WhatsApp opens with these figures filled in. Nothing is sent until you press send.
Before you pay a deposit
Have the title checked first
A clean search, the right consents and a sound sale agreement protect far more than these costs. We can review the property and confirm the written fee.
How it is worked out
The rules behind the numbers
Who pays stamp duty on a land purchase in Kenya?
The buyer. It is 4% of the value for land in a municipality or gazetted urban area and 2% elsewhere, assessed on the higher of the price you pay and the government valuation.
How are the legal fees worked out?
Advocates’ fees on a sale or purchase follow the scale in Schedule 1 of the Advocates (Remuneration) (Amendment) Order, 2014: 2% of the first KES 5 million (at least KES 35,000), then 1.5% up to KES 100 million, 1.25% up to KES 250 million, 1% up to KES 1 billion and 0.1% above that. VAT at 16% is added to the fee.
How much capital gains tax does a seller pay?
Capital gains tax is 15% of the net gain, not of the sale price. The gain is the transfer value less what you paid for the property and the incidental costs of acquiring and transferring it. Because it depends on your acquisition cost, this calculator will not estimate it until you enter one.
Is any seller exempt from capital gains tax?
Some transfers are. The Eighth Schedule to the Income Tax Act exempts, among others, a principal private residence occupied for at least three continuous years before the transfer, and agricultural land of less than 100 acres outside a municipality or gazetted township. Exemption depends on the facts, so confirm it with a tax adviser before relying on it.
Why are registry charges not in the total?
Search, registration, consent, rates and land rent charges depend on the property, the county and the registry process. They are listed as items still to confirm rather than guessed at, so the calculated subtotal is deliberately not a complete closing budget.
Does this apply if I am buying with a mortgage?
The buyer’s costs here still apply. A lender adds its own: a valuation, registration of the charge and legal fees for the security, which are charged on a separate scale based on the loan amount.
Sources
- Advocates (Remuneration) (Amendment) Order, 2014, Schedule 1, First Scale (Legal Notice No. 35 of 2014); paragraph 18(a) for the seller’s reduced scale.
- Stamp Duty Act (Cap. 480): 4% in municipalities and gazetted urban areas, 2% elsewhere.
- Income Tax Act, Eighth Schedule: capital gains tax at 15% of the net gain, payable by the transferor (rate as amended by the Finance Act 2022, in force from 1 January 2023).
- Land Control Act (Cap. 302): consent of the Land Control Board for controlled transactions, applied for within six months of the agreement.
- Value Added Tax at 16% on professional fees.
Last updated .