Although Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has made many efforts to enhance tax compliance, the rate of non-compliance is still high in the country where the majority of people doing business are deliberately failing to file their returns.
This according to the tax body’s Commissioner General John Rujoki Musinguzi, the tax to Gross Domestic Product ratio is currently standing at 13.9% which is below the Sub-Saharan average of 16% and this is an indication that Uganda is performing poorly as far as tax collection is concerned.
While addressing participants at the thanks giving ceremony held at the Authority’s headquarters in Nakawa, he said that last financial year the target wasn’t met because of the challenge on non-compliance by the potential tax payers.
“ Tax collection isn’t an easy job because you take away from some one’s income who think you haven’t contributed and tend to resent paying others evade while some avoid activities that carry tax.’’ Musinguzi stated.
‘’As URA leaders we have and we will continue to make interventions such as sensitization of the tax payers in any form using available means geared towards widening the tax base so as to enhance tax collection in the country’’, He said.
The tax collectors were given a target to collect 31.98 trillion this financial year from taxes an non-tax sources and the commissioner General hope to achieve this through registering new tax payers and also maintain numbers already on the register.
He further said that government will continue borrowing excessively base of the narrow tax base and non-compliance by the potential tax payers. He also said that the level of corruption in his institution have greatly reduced due to the stringent policy which have seen some being staff dismissed.
Musinguzi said that there has been improvement in tax collection this financial year so far and this time round he has high hope that the target will be reached because his staffs especially the different line managers serve selfishness and faithfully to the extent they even go past normal working hours without asking for extra allowances.
The head of State House Investor Protection Unit Col. Edith Nakalema who also attended the function hailed Mr. Musinguzi for being a person of high integrity and humility as a leader.
Col. Nakalema said that if the tax collectors are corrupt, investors are scared away this this limits the widening of the tax base thus hindering the development of the country.
The Archbishop of Church of Uganda Dr. Steven Kazimba Mugalu warned people to stop being selfish and greedy something he says is the major cause of corruption tendencies in the country. URA staffs collected and donated UGX 30m towards the completion of Nakasero based All Saints
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