In a bid to boost tax compliance, a dedicated team from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has embarked on a door-to-door campaign in Fort Portal among traders and business owners. The “Tax Katale,” campaign kicked off on Monday, primarily targeting presumptive taxpayers to ensure that all qualifying businesses comply with their tax obligations.
Undeterred by the atmosphere, the team is daily braving the hustle and bustle of Fort Portal’s downtown markets of; Mbaga, Kaguta,kyenjojo and taxi parks ensuring that all affected traders comply with their tax obligations.
The team navigates through crowded stalls, courting different traders and sensitizing them about their presumptive taxable potential.
Gerald Bwambale, the coordinating team lead emphasized that this potential is not being fully realized, highlighting the importance of increased face-to-face and more focused tax education of these smaller groups in the areas they operate.
“Once they are equipped with all the necessary information that they need for their businesses they will pay, he added.
So far he noted that the campaign has yielded impressive results in the last three days of UGX 43,543,560 million. On Monday, UGX 13,614,000 million was collected, on Tuesday UGX 13,614,000 and Wednesday UGX 18,000,000 million was realized. All this effort will go a long way in surpassing the presumptive target for this month of UGX 139 million in Fort portal alone. Similar tax education drives are going round in all regions in the country to ensure that URA hits it overall December target of UGX 3.48 trillion.
Meanwhile, the presumptive tax area is a significant focus for the URA, as it is believed to hold immense potential for revenue growth. Once fully tapped into, the URA estimates that more than UGX 1 trillion could be raised by June 30th, significantly boosting the country’s revenue collection.
URA’s efforts in Fort Portal demonstrate the authority’s commitment to promoting tax compliance and ensuring that every citizen engaging in productive business contributes their fair share of revenue. URA will continue educating taxpayers and equipping them with all the necessary information to help them remain or become compliant
