Members of the civil society addressing the press
Civil Society Activists have asked Government to first enhance the capacity of the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) to speed up the issuance of the National Identity cards and National Identification Numbers (NINs) before these are used to identify the various taxpayers.
The appeal was made by Aloysious Kittengo, Program Coordinator, Financing for Development at the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) –Uganda, the Secretariat of Tax Justice Alliance Uganda during a press briefing in Kampala, to react to the proposals in the even Tax Bills that were recently tabled before Parliament by the Ministry of Finance.
“Government should be cognizant of the challenges like late issuance of National Identification Numbers by NIRA. The government should be cognizant of the infrastructure challenges, especially the ability of Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) systems to handle this large volume of data,” said Kittengo.
His remarks were in response to the proposed amendments in the Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Bill 2025 in which Government is seeking to provide for the use of the National Identification Numbers and the registration number as Tax Identification Numbers.
Government is also proposing to have the registration number issued by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, in case of a person who is a non – individual; and a tax identification number issued by a foreign tax authority with whom Uganda has a tax treaty or agreement for the exchange of information to be used as Tax Identification Number.
The move is intended to increase the tax register and in turn tax collection as well as tax compliance, and it is anticipated that the use of NIN will expand the tax register and could bring about an increase in revenue collections, however, not everyone with a NIN is legible to pay tax.
Kennedy Oluma, Coordinator, Uganda Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows called on Government to undertake the transition from Tax Identification Number (TIN) to National Identification Number in a gradual process so as to allow the different implementing agencies to build capacity so as not to disrupt businesses.
“It is something that we think it is a good idea but we request the government to put such an implementation at a gradual level first educate the citizens, let us understand how are we going to transit to that level. We think that the government would first let the citizens understand how this project is going to be implemented. We are all aware right now, we are carrying national identification cards which expired and even NIRA itself is struggling up to now,” he explained.
If passed into law, it means that the current Tax Identification Number (TIN) will be scrapped and replaced with the NIN and the move is believed will help lessens the burden of a taxpayer from running from place-to-place while registering a business.
Tax Justice Alliance Uganda however raised several concerns including what happens to the people or potential taxpayers who are from jurisdictions where Uganda has no Double Taxation Treaties/Agreements (DTA), given the fact that currently Uganda has 9 DTAs with Denmark, India, Italy, Mauritius, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom and Zambia.
In their recommendations, Tax Justice Alliance urged Government to Upgrade URA data systems to handle large data volumes and enhance NIN issuance to ensure effectiveness in service delivery.
“Therefore, the fact that the Act shall come into force on 1st July 2025 except for section 2 which shall come into force on a date appointed by the Minister by statutory instrument, more time is required for scrutiny and transition Amendment of Section 2 (4) of the Tax Procedure Code Act,” noted Kittengo.
In the same Bill, Government is proposing to have any local authority, Government institution or regulatory body not issue a license or any form of authorization necessary for purposes of conducting any business in Uganda to any person who does not have a national identification number, in the case of an individual, or a registration number in the case of a non-individual, or a tax identification number issued by a foreign tax authority with whom Uganda has a tax treaty or agreement for the exchange of information.
The amendment if passed is likely to solve the issue of revenue loss due to multiple and redundant Taxpayers Identification Numbers (TINs), however, Tax Justice Alliance expressed concerns that this may lay fertile grounds for corruption, this calling for the need to have penalties in case the provision is abused.
“This may cause corruption tendencies (extortion) as the proposal lacks a penalty clause for extortion. If passed into law URA should write off all TINs that are not linked to the NINs. A penalty for extortion is required,” said Kittengo.
Tax Justice Alliance also called for the need by Uganda Revenue Authority to work with National Identification and Registration Authority to expedite the issuance of NIN and recognition should also be paid on National Identification Number (NIN) not the card Government should also be cognizant of the fact that several Ugandan in businesses uses their business premises as their residence, therefore, all challenges associated with attainment of NIN should be addressed prior.
The Activists also want Local government with the mandate to issue license or any form of authorization should be equipped with the necessary technology to identify the NIN.
