By Immaculate Wanyenze
Despite the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic and other global crises that affected the economy, the Ugandan taxpayer has not blurred their ambition to contribute their fair share of revenue.
An Interim Report indicates that last Financial Year 2021-22, URA collected UGX 21,659.44 billion – the biggest collection in the history of our country.
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. However, the outturn for the year saw a net revenue collection of UGX 21,659.44 billion, 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.
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.
Government did not introduce any new taxes in Financial Year 2022/23 due to the need to foster speedy economic recovery. However, there are amendments in the tax legislation intended to provide clarification on ambiguous provisions and close loopholes that may lead to revenue leakage.
URA 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.
In order to increase accessibility of services, URA 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.
URA will focus 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.
URA continues to advocate for faster tax dispute resolution through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) platform. This 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.
