URA Starts Collecting Fees On Passports

By Hamis Kaheru THE Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), has started collecting passport fees, a job previously done by the immigration department. URA's assistant commissioner in-charge of tax education Christopher Kawesa said the move was part of the Government's plan to centralise and streamline collection of revenue. "It is more or less a pilot project," Kawesa said, adding that all departments and ministries which collect revenue for the treasury, would eventually pass on the responsibility to URA. He cited the ministries of justice, lands and the department of information, as some of the channels through which revenue is generated to the treasury. He said URA would start collecting the revenue on behalf of these ministries as well. Kawesa denied that URA was looking for ways of meeting its targeted levels of revenue collection. He said money generated from passports would not be accounted for as part of the targeted sh1,259b because it is not new revenue. Kawesa said passport fees have always been part of income to the treasury and that URA would not boast of higher collections by adding it to its figures. Under the new system, applicants are required to pay for passports through Uganda Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) branches and not at passport offices as was the case in the past. Applicants can still pick forms and apply through the Kampala passport office or up-country immigration offices, which issue bank payment advice forms. The passport office then liaises with the bank and processes the passport after the applicant has paid the fees. Ends