CSOs call for the return of graduated tax

Apr 11, 2016

They argue that money collected through graduated tax will be used by local governments to extend services nearer to the people.

Civil society organizations (CSOs) are calling on government to reinstate graduated tax as one way of widening the tax base at the local government level.

They argue that money collected through graduated tax will be used by local governments to extend services nearer to the people.

They also want government to tax idle plots of land in urban centers in addition to increasing taxes on sports betting. Since the scraping of graduated tax in 2005 by President Museveni, local governments have been depending on the central government for finances.

"Mobilizing domestic revenues for the provision of public goods and services through taxation helps reduce dependence on loans and foreign aid thus strengthening the legitimacy of the state and deepening the social contract between governments and its people," said Jane Nalunga the country director of the Southern and Eastern African Trade information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI).

Nalunga said that much as government has already come up with areas that fetch the country more taxes, they should consider the return of graduated tax.

"The collection of graduated tax was characterized with arrest and detentions, but it was helping local governments deliver services. Government should come up with proper ways of collecting it" said Nalunga.

Absence of graduated has reduced and slowed down delivery of service like construction of community roads, stocking of health centers, monitoring of schools, added Nalunga.

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