Thousands of Ugandans Wednesday turned up on the opening day of the long- awaited taxpayers’ appreciation 2018 held at Kololo Independence Grounds, with calls for increased tax compliance and reduce borrowing.
The Taxpayers Appreciation Week was officially opened by the First Deputy Prime Minister, Moses_Ali, who was flanked by State Minister of Finance and Planning, David Bahati and Acting Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner General, Patrick Mukiibi.
Speaking at the event, Bahati said: “The purpose of the Tax Appreciation Week is to show Ugandans what your faithful government has been doing with your taxes but most importantly to say thank you to Ugandans for paying taxes.”
The Chairman of Parliament’s Budget Committee, Amos Lugoloobi said Uganda is ‘getting heavily indebted’ and to reduce the fiscal deficit, Ugandans should pay more taxes not only to repay the loans, but also the budget.
The Taxpayer Appreciation week is a Government initiative started in 2017 where Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) come together to showcase the impact of the budgetary allocation to the communities. The event is spearheaded by URA.
“It also provides the visibility of Government achievements in the Financial Year which ultimately answers the question of accountability for the Tax revenue,” URA says, adding: “In addition, this platform is necessary for the public to provide dialogue and feedback to the MDAs. This in turn creates an opportunity for the public to appreciate the role of taxes and hence build a stronger compliance culture.”
In 2017, under the guidance of the Office of the Prime Minister, URA in partnership with other MDAs successfully organised a 3-day Taxpayer Appreciation week from 24th to 28th September, at Kololo Independence grounds where 69 MDAs participated.
The event attracted over 60,000 people who accessed free CSR services provided by the MDAs and the Private Sector.
These included; yellow fever vaccinations, dental services, eye tests, cancer screening, blood donations, subsidized registration of births, legal services, verification of land titles and National ID registrations.
