By Immaculate Wanyenze
Amidst the current economic situation charactised by commodities prices and high standards of living, some Ugandans have resorted to dubious ways for survival.They are working out all ways to escape the taxman’s noose by concealing their goods, under declaring and using porous points to avoid paying tax.
However, the taxman too has doubled effort at all fronts to ensure every Ugandan contributes their fair share.
Following a tip off from the intelligence networks, at about 7:00am yesterday, the URA team camped at one of the petrol stations in Bweyogerere to nab smugglers. Unfortunately, this group proved to be smarter. They took off before the URA team could catch them. They abandoned their green sacks in which they had stashed yellow bags of rice.
When the URA team asked around for the owner of the goods, everyone denied for fear of arrest. The sacks where then loaded unto the URA cabin pickups to Nakawa.
Upon verification, 74 bags of 25 kilograms of Basmati Rice were discovered.
According to Emmanuel Emasu, one of the URA Customs officers who was part of the operation, URA is still waiting for the owners so that offence management can start. Offence management will include a seizure notice with prescribed tax of what the culprits should pay. In this case, the culprits are expected to pay UGX 12,874,287 million worth of taxes.
“If they fail to show up or pay the taxes, their goods will be auctioned after one month from the date of seizure,” Emasu explained.
Uganda Revenue Authority therefore wishes to reiterate its commitment to fighting smuggling of all sorts and liberating Uganda from economic saboteurs engaging in illicit Trade. The general public is encouraged to report to URA all suspicious trade practices in their areas to enable URA create a level trading ground for all legitimate traders.
