The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has realized an impressive revenue performance in the just ending financial year, with the tax body collecting at least 7.14 trillion against a set target of 7.28 trillion shillings.
This according to URA reflects a performance of 98.14% and a deficit of 1.86%. Some of the strategies URA used to gain its annual performance were increasing tax registers by hitting a 91% increase against a targeted 30%.
URA Boss Allen Kagina has credited the introduction of mobile services
Allen Kagina, the URA Commissioner General, says the performance was spurred by among other issues introducing mobile service for customers in Kisoro, Kiboga, Moroto, Mubende, Luwero, Kalangala, Kamwenge and Kapchorwa districts.
While reading the revenue performance of the country during the annual press briefing at the URA headquarters in Kampala, Commissioner General Allen Kagina, also noted that the process saw many unregistered tax payers make to the tax register and comply with tax remittances.
She also emphasized that conducting tax education had created awareness among members of the public who were now conversant with URA e services.
There were also intensified efforts on recovery of tax arrears and audit assessments, success rate in favour of URA for cases filed in the courts and most importantly the stamp duty tax, according to Kagina.
In terms of Value Added Tax (VAT), URA registered 144.67 billion shillings in surplus. This was attributed to increased capacity following the commissioning of three power plants; Bujagali, Nzizi and Nyagak.
Kagina said that the electricity sub-sector paid up to 7.5 billion shillings in arrears during the last financial year.
Import duty on sugar was reinstated, with sugar imports registering a decline of 57.55%, thus increasing the sale of local sugar.
Withholding tax on bank interest also saw URA make a surplus of 103.77 billion shillings, with URA saying the performance was due to an increase in issuance of treasury bills and bonds. But Kagina pointed out a decline in international trade.
However, volumes of fuel imports were just over 1.408 billion litres out of the projected 1.416 million litres, registering a shortfall of 100.62 billion shillings.
According to Dickson Kateshumbwa, Assistant commissioner for Customs Audit, this was purely a result of logistical problems at the Port of Mombasa and not as a result of contracted demand from the economy.
Kateshumbwa says that although efforts have been made to enforce customs duty, some goods were still smuggled across the borders.
Sectors that were on the decline included Agriculture, forestry, Fishing and non incentives like international organizations.