By Irene Kabakama
Residents of Mubende have tasked URA to conduct more engagements to help them understand taxes better.
Speaking at an engagement between URA and business proprietors in Mubende, the Resident District Commissioner Alhajji Umar Lule requested for more talk shows to engage taxpayers before assessing them to support them in their compliance journey.
“Let’s support these businesses so that they can grow because there are no taxes if the businesses close,” he said.
Lule also tipped the residents on compliance urging them to approach taxes with a positive mindset and file returns on time.
His call was echoed by Ssekiziyivu Innocent Mayor Mubende municipality who appreciated URA for translating tax literature to local languages and urged the residents to voluntarily pay taxes to pave ay for better service delivery.
Ag. Commissioner General Ibrahim K Bbossa challenged the people of Mubende to contribute more revealing that while the district was allocated 28bn by the Central government, its revenue target is 10.8bn.
“This is why we have to join hands to support our country. 53% of Uganda’s budget is financed by what URA collects, the rest is from borrowing and 27% of what we collect is used to finance debt. So, let’s pay our fair share so that we can fully fund our country and deliver it from donor dependency,” he said.
Bbossa also tipped the taxpayers on newly introduced USSD code urging them to use it to easily process payments.
Robert Wamala Ag. Manager Public and Corporate Affairs urged the business proprietors in attendance to support URA in revenue mobilization.
“URA has a target of 25 trillion to collect this financial year and we are remaining with 4 trillion. As URA, we realized that this target can only be achieved through educating, engaging and enforcement and this comes when the client has totally refused to comply. We are engaging leaders, business community to see how best they can mobilize revenue and as well close the gap between us,” he said.
This engagement is part of URA’s on-going tax education initiatives to sensitize taxpayers and increase awareness. The engagement was attended by political heads in the district, business community leaders, manufacturers, hotel owners, Landlords, school owners among others.
