Supreme and Court of Appeal justices trained in tax justice system

Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal are undergoing a two day training on Uganda's tax justice system and how to handle new emerging tax issues from the oil and gas industry.

The training which is taking place at the Lake Victoria Serena Hotel in Kigo, will equip the justices with knowledge on the recent policy changes in the tax system that have been designed to aid Uganda's economic development and the latest developments in the tax legal regime.

The training module will include the role of taxation in Uganda, regional policy and administration in the arena of customs, forensic evidence and international taxation and how they play an important role in the tax justice system.

The training was organized by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) in conjunction with the Judicial Training Institute.

According to Doris Akol the Commissioner General URA, this is the 7th training workshop that URA in partnership with the Judicial Training Institute has organized and conducted with members of the judiciary.

"Previous trainings of this nature have been conducted with the justices of the courts. Things covered in those earlier trainings include international taxation, tax law and practice in Uganda, emerging trends in the oil and gas taxation," she said.

Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, Commissioner General of Uganda Revenue Authority Doris Akol, Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma and other Justices pose for a picture during the Taxation Workshop for Justices of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal in Kampala

 
The training is being held under the theme ‘Understanding Uganda's tax system and its impact on economic development'.

Justice stella Arach-Amoko, a justice of the supreme Court said that as Uganda aligns its objectives towards attaining a middle income status, its pertinent for the key stakeholders to understand the role of Uganda's tax system and the role it plays in economic development.

"At the end of this workshop I have no doubt that the objectives of the training will be met . The judiciary plays a critical role in aiding URA to collect revenue towards a safe financial year target," she said.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, the Chief Justice Bart Katureebe the training is timely given the new developments in the oil and gas industry which have posed challenges for judicial officers especially in handling tax related matters.

"I am aware that with the new developments in the area of oil and gas, the stakeholders including the Judiciary are going to face new challenges related to taxes. Indeed some of these challenges have already manifested," he said.

He noted that the training should be able to enable the tax body come up with an elaborate plan by the tax body and all concerned agencies to equip and re-tool the key stakeholders to be able to meet these new challenges.