Nairobi, May 24 -- A foreign firm selling shares in a Kenyan entity abroad will be compelled to pay 15 percent capital gains tax (CGT) under changes proposed in the Finance Bill 2026, in a move that tax experts fear could hurt Kenya's attractiveness to foreign investors.

The Bill seeks to expand the scope of CGT by taxing gains arising from indirect transfers of Kenyan assets by non-resident firms, even where the transaction takes place offshore.

The Bill proposes to amend Paragraph 2 of the Eighth Schedule of the Income Tax Act, which defines the transactions and gains subject to Capital Gains Tax, by introducing a new sub-paragraph (d) immediately after subparagraph (c).

"Gains derived from the alienation of shares by a non-resident ...