Tax & Fiscal Compliance
Moneta Pay POS supports real-time tax compliance through Electronic Signature Devices (ESD) powered by Digitax, with Africa-wide tax calculation built into all plans.
Multi-Country Tax Engine
Tax rates and rules are calculated automatically based on your business country. The system supports 10+ African countries out of the box:
| Country | VAT Rate | Additional Taxes | Currency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya | 16% | CTL 2% | KES |
| Uganda | 18% | — | UGX |
| Tanzania | 18% | — | TZS |
| Rwanda | 18% | — | RWF |
| South Africa | 15% | — | ZAR |
| Nigeria | 7.5% | — | NGN |
| Ethiopia | 15% | — | ETB |
| Burundi | 18% | — | BIF |
| DRC | 16% | — | CDF |
| South Sudan | 18% | — | SSP |
Tax rules use a priority system — VAT is calculated first, then additional taxes like Kenya's Catering Training Levy (CTL). Menu items can be assigned tax categories (standard, reduced, zero-rated, or exempt) for correct calculation.
Business Overrides
You can customize tax rules from Admin > Tax Rules in the dashboard. Business-level overrides replace the country defaults. For example, you might add a service charge or adjust rates for specific item categories.
TIP
Africa-wide tax calculation is included in all plans at no extra cost. The ESD add-on covers the electronic signing and submission to tax authorities.
Digitax Integration
Moneta Pay uses Digitax for fiscal device compliance. Digitax is an approved Electronic Tax Register (ETR) solution that handles invoice signing and submission to revenue authorities including:
- Kenya — KRA eTIMS (electronic Tax Invoice Management System)
- Uganda — URA EFRIS (Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System)
Digitax supports additional African revenue agencies. As Digitax expands country coverage, Moneta Pay can enable fiscal compliance for those countries through the same integration.
Two Modes of Operation
1. Direct Mode (Self-Service)
For single-branch restaurants or branches with their own Digitax entity. The POS server communicates directly with the Digitax API — no additional infrastructure needed.
Setup is self-service:
- Sign up at digitax.tech and create a business entity
- Note your API Key and Tax PIN (e.g., KRA PIN in Kenya, TIN in Uganda)
- In the Moneta Pay dashboard, go to Admin > Business Settings and enter your Digitax API credentials
- Enable the ESD feature on your license (available as an add-on on Starter, Growth, and Pro plans)
- The system automatically creates the event routing subscriptions for fiscal submission
How it works:
Order Paid → Event Queue → ESD Worker → Digitax API → Signed Receipt
↓
Tax Authority (KRA, URA, etc.)Every paid order is queued for fiscal submission. There's a configurable delay (typically 20 minutes) to allow for voids and corrections before the invoice is signed. Once signed, the fiscal receipt prints with the eTIMS verification URL and QR code.
TIP
For fiscal compliance, the submission rate should always be set to 100% to ensure every receipt is submitted to the tax authority.
2. Multi-Branch Mode (Enterprise)
For restaurant chains operating multiple branches under a single VAT registration (single Tax PIN). Most revenue agencies require monotonically increasing receipt numbers — multi-branch mode solves this by routing all branches through a central orchestrator that serializes submissions and assigns sequential IDs.
Architecture:
Branch A (POS) ──→ RabbitMQ ──→ Central Orchestrator ──→ Digitax API
Branch B (POS) ──→ RabbitMQ ──↗ (assigns sequential IDs)
Branch C (POS) ──→ RabbitMQ ──↗ ↓
Tax AuthorityEach branch runs a bridge worker that forwards fiscal events to a central RabbitMQ server. The orchestrator consumes from all branch queues, allocates sequential invoice numbers, and submits to Digitax in order.
Multi-branch mode requires:
- Enterprise plan license
- Central RabbitMQ server accessible by all branches
- Central orchestrator server with Digitax API credentials
Enterprise Only
Multi-branch fiscal compliance requires a more complex infrastructure setup. Contact our support team for integration assistance.
Fiscal Receipt Lifecycle
- A customer pays for their order (cash, M-PESA, or card)
- The POS publishes an
order.paidevent to the queue - After the configured delay, the ESD worker sends the invoice to Digitax
- Digitax signs the invoice and returns a fiscal signature, receipt number, and eTIMS URL
- The signed fiscal receipt is stored and available for printing
- The receipt includes the fiscal device serial number, digital signature, and verification QR code
Priority Fiscal Receipts
When a customer explicitly requests a fiscal receipt (e.g., for tax deduction), the cashier can trigger an immediate submission from the POS — no delay, processed ahead of the regular queue. The cashier can also enter the customer's Tax PIN so the receipt is linked to the customer's tax records.
Fiscal Receipt Browser
View and manage all fiscal receipts from Admin > Fiscal Receipts in the dashboard.
Summary Cards
| Card | Description |
|---|---|
| Submissions | Total fiscal submissions |
| Signed | Successfully signed by Digitax (with sign rate %) |
| Fiscalized Revenue | Total revenue covered by fiscal receipts |
| Latency (P95) | 95th percentile time from payment to fiscal signing |
Receipt List
Filter by date range, submission state, or receipt number. Each row shows:
- Receipt ID, Order ID, Total Amount, State (Submitted / Signed), Waiter, Date
Click a receipt to view the full fiscal text including the eTIMS verification URL and QR code.
Actions
- Reprint — Queue a signed fiscal receipt for reprinting on the receipt printer
- Copy — Copy the fiscal text to clipboard
- Download — Save the fiscal receipt as a file
eTIMS Verification
Every fiscal receipt includes a verification URL and QR code:
https://etims.ke/r/{business_id}/{invoice_number}Customers can scan the QR code to verify the receipt directly with the tax authority — confirming it was properly signed and submitted.
Pricing
| Plan | ESD Availability |
|---|---|
| Free Cloud | Not available |
| Starter | Add-on: KES 1,500/mo |
| Growth | Add-on: KES 1,500/mo |
| Pro | Included |
| Enterprise | Included (+ multi-branch support) |
Africa-wide tax calculation (rates, categories) is included in all plans — the ESD add-on covers the Digitax electronic signing and tax authority submission.
Setup Summary
| Mode | License | Setup | Infrastructure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct | Starter+ with ESD add-on | Self-service via Digitax account | POS server only |
| Multi-branch | Enterprise | Contact support | Central RabbitMQ + orchestrator |