URA’s forex rate quite prohibitive!

SIR—Where I come form, there is a saying that even if people call you a fast runner, you do not run past your home! Armed with the zeal to raise revenue and meet the challenges of the new budget, the new commissioner-general of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is surely running past her home. Towards the end of June, I called a tax officer in URA to establish their exchange rate at the dollar so that I could compute my tax liabilities for the month of June and pay up. I was shocked by the figure he gave me. The men said the URA exchange rate was sh1,794.40 to the dollar. The average rate had actually been sh1,730 to the dollar anywhere in town. I was foolish enough not to complain that time. At the beginning of this week I called URA again and I was shocked by the figure that tax collector gave me: sh1,784.41 to the dollar. I receive my salary in hard currency, so I have to find out this figure each month. You see URA is clever enough not to punish my employer! How on earth will I get enough money to pay my income tax at this rate when the realistic exchange rate for July fluctuates between sh1,690 and sh1,730 to the dollar? What this means is that URA will one of these days allege that I owe them money when they are actually over-assessing my income! Can URA direct me to a forex bureau or bank where I can change my money at sh1,784.41 to a dollar to enable me pay them income tax? Is there any explanation from the Ministry of Finance for this anomaly? Does the Governor of the Bank of Uganda realise the bank’s unrealistic yet persistent intervention in the forex market is out of line with every body’s expectations, including URA? Let those wit the authority and obligations put this right. Justus M. Arinaitwe Kampala