Stamp Duty is an Agency Revenue collected by  the Collector of Stamp Duty attached to the  Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning. The  collection of this duty has however been  seconded to the Kenya Revenue Authority.  Section 5 of the Act establishes the liability of  Stamp Duty; the effect of which ALL instruments  drafted in execution of transactions of property  situated in Kenya and listed under the Act’s  Schedule attract Stamp Duty save for those  specified under Section 117.

The Act, does provide for certain exemptions and reliefs that may be relied on by parties to a transaction to reduce the stamp duty implication or avoid it completely. In this Article, we shall examine some of the exemptions and reliefs provided in the Act and the procedure for obtaining such exemptions.

At this point, it is important to mention that the power to exempt instruments from stamp duty lies with the Cabinet Secretary in charge of the lands docket as per Section 106(1) of the Act.