Stamp duty increased, Ugandans to pay more

Jul 13, 2016

Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on documents such as cheques, receipts, supplies to government, marriage licenses, and land and property transactions.

Just like Oliver Twist, government is asking Ugandans to dig deeper into their pockets and pay more stamp duty on the transfer and exchange of property this financial year.

Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on documents such as cheques, receipts, supplies to government, marriage licenses, and land and property transactions.

"The Government of Uganda has increased the stamp duty rates applicable to a number of transactions effective 1 July 2016. These changes are contained in The Stamps (Amendment) Act, 2016," said a tax alert by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Uganda.  

The Stamps Amendment Act has increased the fixed, or minimum rate of stamp duty to sh10,000 from sh5,000.

The minimum rate was last increased from sh1,000 to sh5,000 in 2002.

Furthermore, Stamp duty which is applicable on exchange of property has been increased from 1% to 2% of the total value.

PWC explained that this provision applies to exchange of property such as land, buildings and shares.

Similarly, Stamp duty on a transfer of property increased from 1% to 1.5% of the total value of the property.

"This means that any property transfers concluded on 1 July 2016 and after will be subject to the stamp duty of 1.5% on the value of the property that is being transferred," PWC said. "This marks a significant increase from 1% which has been in place for many years."

The audit firm explained that the new rates are still favourable compared to some of Uganda's neighbours, such as Kenya, where transfers of urban property are subject to stamp duty rate of 4%.


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