By Elizabeth Nakiru and Photography by Irene Kabakama
URA in conjunction with His Majesty Revenue and Customs team have met on how to make the voluntary disclosure program popular among the Ugandan taxpayers. This is because it will save URA time on carrying out assessments and enforcement activities, the tedious court processes and rather allow room for dialogue.
The meeting agreed to develop information materials tailored for taxpayers to understand the program better and increase its uptake. The tax education materials will include; public notices, brochures, fliers, posters among others.
The Ag. Assistant Commissioner Intelligence, Jimmy Ekemu said that the program will increase tax compliance that will lead to higher revenue mobilization for the government and improve stakeholder relationships.
The voluntary disclosure program is also instrumental in facilitating automatic exchange of information and will aid in promoting transparency and fairness in the tax system.
“This program will give us opportunity to identify and profile our taxpayers thus helping us determine how to serve them best as the revenue administration,’’ said Ibrahim Bbossa, the Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs.
Voluntary disclosure is a process where the taxpayer reveals confidential information without prompting from URA. This information may include tax arrears, business information, tax queries, tax offences among others. The aim of revealing is to seek advice and support from the revenue body without escalating to court since most voluntary disclosures are tax offences.
