The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) released what it called “the biggest tax collection in the country’s history”.
URA Commissioner General John Rujoki Musinguzi made the revelation on Friday during the URA’s annual revenue mobilization press conference to follow the highlights of the 2021/22 performance held at the URA Tower in Nakawa, Kampala.
“An interim report states that in the last financial year 2021-22, the URA collected UGX 21,659.44 billion – the largest collection in the history of our country Uganda. This performance was owed to you, the taxpayer,” Musinguzi said.
It revealed that revenue increased by 12.44% compared to collections for the 2020/21 financial year, reflecting nominal revenue growth of UGX 2,396.44 billion.
Despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global economic crises, Ugandan taxpayers have maintained their resolve to contribute their fair share of revenue.
Domestic taxes collected amounted to UGX 13,664.65 billion against a target of UGX 14,662.13 billion, recording a deficit of UGX 997.48 billion and a performance rate of 93.20% .
Taxpayers paid UGX 1,520.64 billion (12.52%) more in domestic taxes compared to the 2020/21 financial year.
Customs revenue amounted to 8,434.36 billion UGX against a target of 8,140.49 billion UGX, posting a surplus of 294.63 billion UGX and recording a performance of 103.62%.
Traders contributed UGX 929.25 billion more through customs than they did in the last fiscal year.
“I should note that the revenue mobilization target for FY 2022/23 stands at 25.15 UGX tonnes,” he noted.
He added, “I must also echo the words of the Honorable Minister of Finance, Honorable Matia Kasaija, and remind all Ugandans that the government has not introduced any new taxes in the financial year 2022/ 23 to promote a rapid economic recovery”.
New focus
In this new fiscal year, he said, the URA will focus on implementing administrative and efficiency measures that will help taxpayers meet their obligations “so that we can all work together to get our country of the shame of deficits and economic dependence”. ”.
“We will continue the ongoing taxpayer registry expansion and cleanup exercise while promoting staff integrity, professionalism and zero tolerance for corruption.”
According to Musinguzi, the URA will focus on consolidating and refining the gains achieved through the adoption of key technologies such as EFRIS, the digital tracking solution and the rental tax management system, all aimed at improve business efficiency to combat revenue leakage.
He said the regional electronic cargo tracking system and non-intrusive inspection technology will be improved and fully integrated with our central IT systems for effective trade facilitation and improved transparency.
The URA will also implement an intensive taxpayer education program, improve service delivery and promote transparency.
“To increase the accessibility of our services, the URA will continue to use mobile tax services in areas where we do not have a physical office. The Tujenge Uganda bus has done a tremendous amount of good on the register expansion front.
The second mobile tax office | Tujenge Uganda Bus will be activated at the beginning of this exercise. The medium-term plan is to have four buses and one mobile tax office per region in order to bring services closer to the population.
“The URA continues to advocate for faster resolution of tax disputes through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) platform. We believe this is a win-win situation for both the tax administration and the taxpayer, saving both parties time and legal costs,” Musinguzi emphasized, adding:
“I especially want to wholeheartedly thank all of our valued taxpayers for meeting their tax obligations, despite the setbacks caused by the pandemic and the economic collapse of the Russian-Ukrainian war.”
He praised taxpayers for showing resilience, patriotism and commitment to fulfilling their civic duty to pay taxes.
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