URA Commissioner General, John R Musinguzi addressing business and political; leaders from the Central Business District (Kampala)
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner General, John R Musinguzi has revealed that its tax register currently stands at slightly over 1.6 million taxpayers with only 800,000 active.
“These are the individuals and businesses that shoulder the weight of paying taxes that bring in revenue used to deliver services to the 45 million Ugandans,” Musinguzi revealed.
The URA boss made the revelation today while meeting various business and political leaders from the Central Business District to learn first-hand about their tax challenges and help address them. The meeting was also aimed at partnering with the leaders as key ambassadors in URA’s revenue mobilization journey.
Musinguzi noted that all eligible Ugandans should pay their fair share.
“This is a weight we must distribute to all eligible countrymen and women who are not yet contributing to the revenue basket. We are also coming up with a number of initiatives to expand the tax register so that more other eligible citizens and economic players can contribute to the revenue basket. When everyone contributes their fair share, the basket becomes more than full,” he said.
He explained that URA is coming up with new ways of demystifying taxes, by educating people about the importance of paying tax, the obligation of paying tax, how they can pay and what the taxes do.
“Do not hear about collecting more tax and worry that we are going to over tax those who are contributing to the revenue basket already. No. We are coming up with new ways of demystifying taxes, by educating our people about the importance of paying tax. We have equally re-committed ourselves to be more efficient and transparent in what we do. We are deliberately promoting accountability among our staff. We are executing our duties guided by the values of Patriotism, Integrity, and Professionalism,” he added.
He revealed that URA’s aim is to double Uganda’s tax to GDP ratio through being more efficient at collecting revenue, a task he said they cannot execute alone.
“We’ve invited you to join efforts with us because there is power in teamwork and the fruits we shall yield will be enjoyed by all of us.
Currently, as a nation we fund only 47% of our budget and our tax to GDP ratio of 13% is below the Sub-Saharan average of 16% and further below that of other nations of the world which collect as much as 30-35%,” he said.
He explained that as an organization at the forefront of revenue mobilization, they are committed to lead all efforts towards Uganda’s economic self-sufficiency, by finding better ways of collecting more revenue to deliver transformation for our country and all her citizens.
“At the heart of our new strategic direction lies the drive to build and harness synergies with strategic partners to achieve the Domestic Revenue Mobilisation Agenda,” he said.
He added: “I urge each one of us to take the calling to serve this country as a God-ordained duty. May our roles cut deeper than what our job descriptions entail. Let us go over and above to realise a better economy for our motherland.”
