Museveni stops TV tax

Sep 05, 2005

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has ordered information minister Dr James Nsaba Buturo to stop, with immediate effect, levying tax on television sets that are not used for commercial purpose.

By Henry Mukasa

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has ordered information minister Dr James Nsaba Buturo to stop, with immediate effect, levying tax on television sets that are not used for commercial purpose.

Museveni made the directive while meeting members of the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation at State House Nakasero yesterday morning.

He said “Any tax that affects the bakopi (peasants) should be avoided. Levy (tax on) those who use TV sets for commercial purposes like hotel owners and not homesteads.

Museveni’s directive was contained in a statement from State House Nakasero.

Last month, Buturo announced that TV owners would pay sh20,000 annual or sh1,600 monthly fee as license fees. He said the fees would facilitate the UBC to offer quality service. The corporation hoped to generate sh40b annually.

The deadline for payment of the tax passed quietly on August 31.

UBC had contracted a South African firm, TV Licence Ltd, to collect the fees. Mary Bryant, the firm managing director, on Friday said their survey indicated that there were between 1.7 million and two million TV sets in the country.

She said the firm had started collecting fees at the designated Post Office centres on August 1 and the response, “had been good.”

It is not clear whether after yesterday’s presidential directive the homesteads’ that had paid will get a refund.

The statement said the President offered to fundraise for the Broadcasting Corporation and cautioned them against seeking commercial loans to rehabilitate Radio Uganda and Uganda Television.

UBC needs over 9 million Euros to rehabilitate the two national broadcasters, which has been divided in two phases.

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