Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has commended Ugandans for enduring COVID-19 pandemic and other global crises that affected the economy and paying obligated tax fares, marking the Financial Year 2021/22 collection the biggest in the history of the country.
An Interim Report indicates that last Financial Year 2021-22, URA collected UGX 21,659.44 billion.
This means that the revenue grew by 12.44 percent as compared to collections for FY 2020/21, which reflects a nominal growth in revenue of UGX 2,396.44 billion.
Although Ugandans made an achievement, the taxman registered a short of UGX 704 billion against a target of UGX 22,363.51 billion.
According to the Commissioner General John R. Musinguzi, the growth in revenue performance for the financial year is attributed to measures such as arrears management, expansion of the register currently at more than 2.5 million taxpayers, country wide customs enforcement initiatives, alternative dispute resolution, tax investigation initiatives among others.
Addressing journalists at the URA Tower, he said that the Domestic Taxes collections were UGX 13,664.65 billion against a target of UGX 14,662.13 billion, registering a deficit of UGX 997.48 billion and performance rate 93.20 percent. The domestic taxes collections grew by UGX 1,520.64 billion (12.52 percent) compared to last financial year.
“The customs collections were UGX 8,434.36 billion against a target of UGX 8,140.49 billion, posting a surplus of UGX 294.63 billion and registering a performance of 103.62 percent. The customs collections also grew by UGX 929.25 billion compared to last financial year.”
With the FY2022/23 target of UGX 25.1 trillion at hand, the Commissioner General unveiled a number of key strategic measures that URA will undertake to support taxpayers to comply but also get our country out of the shame of economic dependence, and poverty.
Although the government did not introduce any new taxes in Financial Year 2022/23 due to the need to foster speedy economic recovery, there are amendments in the tax legislation intended to provide clarification on ambiguous provisions and close loopholes that may lead to revenue leakage.
Ugandan enterprises urged to explore regional oil and gas opportunitiesThe tax collection body says will continue to foster efficiency in collection, use third party information for taxpayer registration, promote staff integrity and reduce corruption tendencies.
“URA will also roll out an intensive taxpayer education programme, improve service delivery, and promote transparency. This will be implemented through stakeholder collaboration especially in areas of information exchange, and third-party data integration and analysis to identify unregistered persons to expand the tax register,” said Rujoki.
In order to increase accessibility of services, Rujoki says they will utilise mobile tax services through the Tujenge Uganda, a mobile outreach bus that extends outreach services to taxpayers especially in areas where we do not have physical presence.
URA which has acquired the second outreach bus, is the third African tax authority, after South Africa and Kenya, to launch this kind of automobile aimed at drumming up efforts to grow the tax register to at least 5 million taxpayers by 2024/25.
The body also focuses on championing process improvement using key technologies such as Electronic Fiscal Receipting & Invoicing Solution(EFRIS) and Digital Tax Stamps (DTS) to improve business efficiencies and combat revenue leakage.
Advocating for faster tax dispute resolution through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) platform, URA says it is a win-win for the tax authority and the taxpayer saving both parties legal costs and time.
“We are stepping up the use of Cargo Tracking Systems, and Non-Intrusive Inspection Technologies to facilitate trade.”
