By the Taxman
Nineteen ninety-one, URA’s year of inception was characterised by many challenges and worth noting is the low revenue collections at the time. The government collected about UGX 80 billion prior to URA’s establishment coupled with high enforcements costs incurred to raise the petite amount.
The revenue journey has since grown to a tune of over UGX 19 trillion in Financial Year (FY) 2020/21.
This growth can be attributed to a number of factors, but most importantly, the contribution of the taxpayers and URA’s unending effort to boost taxpayer morale. For this reason, URA holds an annual Taxpayers Appreciation Season (TPAS) to celebrate, recognize and award compliant taxpayers in a given financial year.
To this end, while we reflect on the 30 years of developing Uganda together, URA will reward 40 most compliant taxpayers in four categories of regional vantage award, Commissioner General’s ward, Excel Award and trail blazer award. The regional vantage awards are given to outstanding taxpayers from all the regions countrywide, the Commissioner General’s award goes to the best strategic stakeholders, media partners and government ministries, departments or agencies (MDAs), while the Excel award is given to the most compliant taxpayers with the highest amount of revenue that financial year.
The trailblazer is a new category that has been added to recognise taxpayers who have pioneered and kept consistent in adopting URA technological initiatives. This development follows URA’s past efforts towards on-boarding technology towards improving tax administration and service delivery, through the introduction of systems like Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS) and Digital Tracking Solution (DTS).
This year’s TPAS will incorporate a client service week to compliment the annual international Customer Service week which is marked in October of every year. URA aims at reinforcing a renewed service commitment to deliver a delightful client experience to all taxpayers. This activity will be held between 1st and 5th November 2021 after the unveiling of the Client Service charter scheduled for 13th October 2021.
As many businesses struggle to recover from the enormous effects of COVID-19, URA will moderate e-bomba ya business summits together with selected experts in business, taxation and policy, as they expound on opportunities and recovery measures which the business people can tap into to remain afloat. The appreciation season aims at closing the gap between Ugandans, the taxman, and the Government, with an ultimate goal of cultivating a voluntary taxpaying culture. Implementation of TPAS ensures that URA remains true to its service centric culture while offering the best tax administration practices as it appreciates the public’s efforts towards the growth and development of Uganda. This is because URA now seeks strategic stakeholder collaboration
