By Irene Kabakama
The Uganda National Chambers of Commerce and Industry(UNCCI) in conjunction with URA, SEATINI, and DFCU organized a workshop that aimed to facilitate discourse on the challenges faced by the private sector business community.
Olive Kigongo, the President of UNCCI during her remarks revealed the major uphill for business owners is issues concerning taxation processes. This included difficulty in tax computation, knowledge gaps, and inadequate resources.
“It is good to work in partnerships and coalitions because that way, you are easily heard with a strong voice and collaboration to impact positively. We also express the willingness to take the advice given so that we can serve better” Kigongo said.
In the course of the meeting, issues raised included requests for an extension of the section 40D waiver window, a reduction in taxpayer audits, reduced highhandedness during enforcement and more accountability for the collected taxes.
Sarah M Chelangat, the Commissioner of Domestic taxes appreciated the team for organizing the event because it provides a platform for URA to engage with stakeholders. She also indicated that URA is looking at lobbying for the waiver extension, curbing highhandedness, and urged business owners to work with URA.
Michael Masembe, the Ag. Manager Tax Education shared explained that URA has eased tax payments by opening new platforms for payments such as the portal, and the USSD code. He said that URA is building a tax-paying culture through the reliability of services and professionalism of staff who are ready and willing to serve taxpayers.
Masembe expounded on the obligations of taxpayers, the process of formalizing a business, and the rights of taxpayers during his presentation.
