Henry Musasizi, Minister of State for Finance
Government through the Ministry of Finance has asked Parliament to approve a tax waiver worth UGX18.86bn Newplan Limited, a 25-year old local Engineering consulting firm in Kampala, owes to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).
This is after the company faced financial hardships caused by the effects of Covid-19 pandemic and the loans it acquired.
Henry Musasizi, Minister of State for Finance made the request on Tuesday 16th December 2025 during a special plenary sitting.
Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa referred the proposal to Parliament’s Committee on Finance for scrutiny before a final decision is taken.
Musasizi informed Parliament that the Ministry’s decision followed the 18th July 2025 letter written by John Musinguzi, Commissioner General, Uganda Revenue Authority recommending the waiver of Value Added Tax, Withholding Tax and Pay As You Earn arrears amounting to UGX18.86bn Newplan Ltd owed government on grounds of financial difficulties.
“Section 43(2) of the Tax Procedures Code Act Cap 343, provides that where a taxpayer’s case is referred to the Minister by URA and the Minister is satisfied that the tax due cannot be effectively recovered, the Minister shall with the approval of Parliament remit in whole or part the tax payable by the taxpayer. this Ministry is satisfied with URA’s submission that the tax due as highlighted above cannot be effectively recovered,” noted Minister Musasizi.
According to URA, Newplan Limited requested for a waiver of accumulated tax arrears on the grounds of financial hardship due to suspension of works on the EACOP project following the closure of the economy as a result of Covid-19 pandemic and loans that the company acquired.
Musinguzi wrote, “Our review of the taxpayer’s financial records reveals that the company is facing financial hardship and is highly indebted. we therefore recommend waiver of the taxpayer’s tax arrears amounting to UGX18,868,696,674 in accordance with Section 43 of the Tax Procedures Code Act, 2024.”
However, Joseph Ssewungu (Kalungu West) questioned the criteria used to select the companies to benefit from the waiver, but his concerns were cut short by the Deputy Speaker who called him out for debating in anticipation which is against the Rules of Procedure.
“There are so many companies that are seeking for a tax waiver, why bring only one and leave out those other local companies,” said Ssewungu.
The request comes at the time when in October 2025, the Ministry of Finance also sought Parliament’s approval to have the UGX1.31 trillion Value Added Tax arrears owed by Uganda Cooperative Alliance to be waived on grounds of financial difficulties, following the fraudulent sale of the body’s prime properties.
Also in March 2025, Parliament approved the proposal by Government to waive taxes worth UGX9.61bn owed by eight private businesses including; Nkumba University, J2E Investment Corporation Ltd, Nicontra Ltd, Busoga University, Makerere Business Institute Ltd, Kisiizi Hospital Power Ltd and Peter Lokwang, however, the request to have UGX2,696,768 Tax Waiver owed by businessman Donati Kananura was rejected after Parliament argued that the reasons of ill health cited in the request weren’t convincing.
Experts have raised concerns over the lack of criteria used to select individuals to benefit from these tax waivers, while others point to the revenue losses other Ugandan taxpayers are forced to bear, while other taxpayers are protected from the same burden.
In August 2024 the Ministry of Finance revealed that in the past five years, Uganda has foregone taxes to a tune of over UGX12Trn, but the Ministry admitted that the figure could be higher than reported, owing to Government’s failure to appropriately capture data for computation, with UGX2.972Trn recorded in 2022/23 alone.
