Hasfa Seguya, a tax literacy official at URA
The need to keep proper business records for self-assessment and tax purposes Saturday morning dominated a tax baraza convened by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) at the Authority’s headquarters in Nakawa.
Gyaviira Bsulwa, the Head of Finance at Uganda Small Scale Industries Association (USSIA) says that some business people deny themselves the tax knowledge.
“People think that they are hiding from the tax man yet they are hiding from being aware or sensitized. So, the essence about taxation is being aware of the taxation laws. The taxation system we have is that you are taxed according to profit you make. So, as long as you are aware of what to do, you won’t have any problem with taxation. So, the thing is, people should acquaint themselves with taxation knowledge, if you don’t do that then you will not know what to do. Any other person may take advantage of you because you are ignorant about taxation laws,” Busulwa said.
According to Busulwa, the profit, which is then taxed by URA is arrived at after proper documentation.
“Book keeping helps you have an analysis of your business. You know how you have performed. The taxation bit of it is that you are going to be assessed according to your records. So, if you are not keeping records, then they are going to give you a blank assessment. So, you have to keep records for your own assessment but also for the taxation and even then, if you want to get other facilities like loans. Financial recording gives a basis to your running of finances and effective running of the business,” he said.
He, however, appealed to URA to consider professionalism while handling ignorant yet potential taxpayers.
“Nobody would like to be in the face of the taxman. So, URA officials should practice professionalism while handling taxation matters especially while handling people who are still ignorant about taxation. They may not have the capacity to hire taxation experts. So, we appeal to URA to have professionalism and handle SMEs with some kind of advice not collecting taxes,” Busulwa added.
He appealed to SMEs to join other membership organizations like USSIA and KACITA so that they are able to get tax knowledge.
“These organizations are formed in such a way that they can handle different issues. They can advocate for you. They can advise you. So, I would encourage all SMEs, industrialists and non-industralists to attach themselves to a certain business membership to get services like business development, taxation etc,” Busulwa said.
Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) acting Chairman Thaddeus Naggenda Musoke says that the government through URA has invested heavily in technology and that whoever thinks they can dodge paying taxes are wasting time.
“We have had a sensitization drive with URA and the moment you are not complying with URA, they are going to track you down. So, for business survival, to avoid penalties, we are trying to see how we can change the perception because we are lucky that URA is emphasizing sensitization,” Musoke said.
According to Musoke, URA taxes profits and that it is “just a matter of arranging your books so clearly.”
You organize, he said, advising business persons to join associations such as KACITA where he says they offer free taxation services.
“As KACITA we are offering free services to make sure we formalize businesses because we believe that the more Ugandans pay taxes, the lesser the burden on the few compliant taxpayers and the more the government will come out with a more favourable tax policy. So, we think that when we join hands with URA as the business community, together we will develop our nation,” Musoke noted.
Hasfa Seguya, a tax literacy official at URA explained that: “If you have sales, I would imagine you issued a receipt. You should have issued an invoice. That will inform that particular transaction, the amount and maybe the details pertaining to it. Whereas in a business, equally you have purchases and any other business expenses. I would like you to keep those records well. Please keep it very well and now we have fiscalized invoices that you could normally get from somebody who is registered for EPRIS. Keep them very well. These are records that are basically going to inform you about how your business is going, before even the tax man comes. I want the business records to inform you so that you keep the business moving forward. So, at the time of filing, it’s easier. You just get the totals in your records and put in my template and it will automatically show you. Then, if you can make 10 million as a gross turnover, you don’t pay income tax. But the majority may not know it so they say let me pay 100, 000 but against what? What informed the 100, 000? These are the records needed to inform what is payable at the end of the period.”
Seguya appealed to taxpayers to file their returns before they go for Christmas and New Year festivities.
“Ensure that before you for Christmas, push in this return. In whatever shape it is. If it’s a nil return, it is okay. If it’s an offset return it is okay. If it is a loss carried forward, it is okay. If it’s a payment return, it’s okay. The reason why we encourage that is that we want you to self-assess yourself because you know your business better than I do so that I don’t need to give you an estimate or a default assessment because normally its high and it will not represent the transactions that have happened in your business,” Seguya said.
