By Irene Kabakama
URA recently hosted a delegation from Airtel to discuss tax matters and strengthen relations between the two entities.
During the meeting, Manoj Murali, the Managing Director of Airtel Uganda, voiced his concerns about the 0.5% tax on mobile money withdrawals. This he claimed has driven customers to agency banking.
Murali also mentioned Airtel’s collaboration with UNICEF, in which the telecom is providing free internet to schools for 5 years.
In response, John Musinguzi, the Commissioner General stated that URA had previously contacted the Ministry of Finance about the 0.5% withdrawal tax and was waiting for a response over the tax exemption.
“The partnership with UNICEF is a great project that URA would love to support, we came with a thinking of a waiver of excise duty on educational institutions only that VAT was not thought about but the decision can come from the Ministry of Finance, URA can only work with them to bring the idea to make data affordable,” he explained.
On the Over the Top Tax(OTT), Mr. Musinguzi stated that the matter would be discussed in order to reach a compromise with the telecommunications.
He also praised Airtel for their compliance, saying that the URA is banking on them this month as one of Uganda’s top taxpayers.
