By Kamugisha Kabahweza Allan
Uganda Revenue Authority has set its focus on growing the tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio to 20% in the next five years through the use of available data to widen the tax base.
According to Abel Kagumire, the Commissioner Executive Office Operations at URA, the revenue body will use data from other agencies like the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), Local Governments to identify potential taxpayers who are not yet on the register.
Kagumire made these remarks while representing the Commissioner General at the launch of Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba’s book at Makerere University yesterday.
“We have a program, the Taxpayer Registration Expansion Program, that supports us to get everyone on board. URSB has been very supportive in this,” said Kagumire. “We also rely on data on imports and the local government database to identify potential taxpayers to be included on the tax base.”
He acknowledged that the few taxpayers contributing to Uganda’s economy are bearing the heaviest burden and only expanding the tax base will mitigate this.
“When I read chapters 7, 8, and 9 of this book, I noticed many Ugandans in agriculture, but how much do they contribute? Almost nothing apart from income tax,” Kagumire stated.
The CEO, however, said the government has deployed different support systems to encourage both Ugandans and foreigners in the agricultural sector by putting in place incentives.
Giving highlights of his 333-page book “Transformative Economics,” Prof. Nuwagaba, the newly appointed Deputy Governor, Bank of Uganda, noted that URA’s role is to mobilize and collect government revenue.
“The work of URA is to ensure that the government, at the fiscal policy level, can collect money, and this money is able to drive the government, and then the central bank comes in at the monetary policy level to ensure that this money is effectively used and can also have value, and this value should create business, and then the business creates growth,” said Prof. Nuwagaba.
He explained that there is evidence that transformation can take place, and it will take place when growth creates jobs for Ugandans, who will eventually pay taxes for national development.
Launching the book, Dr. Michael Atingi-Ego, Governor of the Bank of Uganda, said that to attain socio-economic transformation, there should be price stability and a sound financial system that supports human capital development and government programs such as BOU’s agricultural credit facility.
