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URA Boss: We Have Renewed Commitment To Lead Uganda Into Economic Self-Sufficiency Status

URA boss

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner General, John R. Musinguzi (pictured above) has said the tax body’s aspiration is to mobilize enough revenue for national development.

He made the remarks during the 2020 Taxpayers’ Appreciation Ceremony held on Friday at Mestil Hotel in Kampala.

“At  URA,  we  have renewed  our  commitment  to  leading  Uganda to economic  self-sufficiency status  and  we  appeal  to  you  all  our  esteemed  taxpayers  to  commit  to  take  this  journey  with  us,” Musinguzi said.

He added: “We are deliberately reviewing, reforming, and revamping the way we have been working. A number of initiatives have been implemented to enable us transform the way we work and offer a better service to our clients. Over the years, there has been revenue growth year-on-year and we thank God for this achievement.” 

However, he explained, despite this  growth, Uganda is still unable to fully fund her national expenditure.

The country is  currently funding 47% of the national budget and are therefore left to  turn to  external  borrowing which  often  has  a  lot  of  unfavorable terms and conditions, he noted.

Uganda’s Tax to GDP ratio is still at a paltry 13%. 

This is below the average sub-Saharan African performance of 16%. Organization   of   Economic   Cooperation   and   Development (OECD) average is 34.3%.

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) average is 23.1%.

Morocco, Seychelles,  South Africa  and  Tunisia are  at  more than 25% Tax to GDP ratio.

For Uganda to attain self-sufficiency, Musinguzi said, there’s need to at least double the country’s Tax to GDP ratio from the current 13% to 26% which he believes can be attained.

He added that URA is  instituting mechanisms through which all qualifying citizens and  economic  players shall  be  able  to  make  their  fair contribution to the revenue basket and these are all within the ambit of the Domestic Resource Mobilization Strategy.

He said URA is implementing several compliance  enhancement initiatives.

For example, URA is encouraging  taxpayers  to  embrace  the  voluntary  disclosure avenue  by  doing  a  tax  health  check  and  cleaning their  tax accounts with the tax body without being penalized.

“We  have adopted  the  use  of  Alternative  Dispute  Resolution  to amicably resolve tax disputes with taxpayers,” Musinguzi said, adding: “We  are  also  collaborating  with  various  stakeholders  in  the private  sector  and  government  agencies  especially  in  areas  of information  exchange  and  system  integrations  to  expand  our tax register and accurately assess tax.”

He revealed that URA has also  purposed  to  demystify  the  tax  regime  and  make  it easily   understood   by   everyone,   through   aggressive   and  elaborate  tax  education  programs  aimed  at  equipping  taxpayers with knowledge of both their rights and obligations.

“We will continue to adopt the use of enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence and data analytics to identify potential revenue, and enhance the support to our taxpayers, use drones in  surveillance  of  our  borders,  and  non-intrusive  inspection technologies to facilitate trade. For instance, we have rolled out the  Digital  Tracking  Solution  and  Electronic  Fiscal  Receipting and Invoicing System to improve the collection of Local Excise Duty and VAT respectively,” he explained.

He noted that URA is currently revamping its contact center that will enable it to provide real time service support to our clients.

“Coupled  with  technology,  internally,  we  have  equally  re-committed ourselves to be more efficient and transparent in what we do.  We are deliberately  promoting  accountability  among  our  Staff,” he said, adding: “Going forward,  we  will  be  guided  by  the  values  of Patriotism,  Integrity, and Professionalism. We have also committed to skilling our staff and building specialized tax  capabilities  in  core  business  areas  such  as  tax  audits,  tax investigations,   taxation   of   the   digital   economy,   international  taxation,  and  data  analytics  to  promote  revenue  generation  and enhanced voluntary compliance.”

Taxpayers Appreciated

He thanked the distinguished taxpayers who voluntarily adhered to their tax obligations throughout the financial year 2019/2020.

“We are here today to recognize and appreciate  our  most compliant taxpayers as our champions in this struggle for economic independence.

We call upon all other taxpayers to emulate you so that we have a critical mass that can transform the nation,” Musinguzi said.

He added: “Your compliance is a testament of your devotion to your country. You are indeed our economic heroes and we celebrate you. I also commend the government for creating a conducive environment and  for  keeping  the  economy  running  particularly  for  allowing  the inflow  of  goods,  encouraging  food  production  and  sensitizing  the public about the pandemic and the need to observe SOPs.”

He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that in every challenge, there is an opportunity.

“At URA we are fully aware of the impact that the pandemic has had on businesses, but also that the solutions to dust ourselves up are within us as a nation. Because  of  you,  and  the  Government’s  efforts,  we  were  able  to perform well during the period July –November, 2020 and we cannot thank  you  enough for  making  a  positive  contribution  towards developing our Nation by fulfilling your tax obligations,” he said.

Taddewo William Senyonyi
https://www.facebook.com/senyonyi.taddewo
William is a seasoned business and finance journalist. He is also an agripreneur and a coffee enthusiast.

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