Man wants sh250m from URA

Jun 08, 2008

A BUSINESSMAN has petitioned Parliament, claiming that the Uganda Revenue Authority failed to pay his commission worth sh250m.

By Paul Kiwuuwa

A BUSINESSMAN has petitioned Parliament, claiming that the Uganda Revenue Authority failed to pay his commission worth sh250m.

Michael Osekeny on Friday told the committee on commissions and statutory enterprises that in 2006 he informed the tax authority of many cases of motor vehicle road license forgeries before the levy was scrapped.

Following the information, he added, URA conducted a countrywide crackdown on the defaulting vehicles and recovered sh2.5b, but his commission was not paid.

“According to the Finance Act CAP 187(7), the commissioner general shall reward any person who provides information leading to the recovery of unpaid tax.

“The informer is entitled to 10% of the recovered money,” Osekeny said.

He added that investigations revealed the location of the machine used to print the forged licenses and it was subsequently impounded.

“This racket involved so many URA employees who were dismissed for causing financial loss to tax body,” Osekeny observed.

The Auditor General report of the financial years 1996-2006 noted that the revenue authority failed to pay its informers.

The committee chairperson, John Odit (UPC), said they would summon URA commissioner general Allen Kagina to explain the issues.

Osekeny claims that he signed a tax evader’s form from URA and was told to check in the newspapers the adverts announcing a crackdown on the tax evaders.

He said the operation successfully took place in November 2006 but he had not obtained his commission to date.

“After the operation, I wrote a claim letter in January 2007 asking for my commission, but I did not get any reply,” he stressed.

“I approached the URA executive assistant, Mike Chibita, and the commissioner for internal audit and tax investigations, Moses Kajubi, who never resolved the matter.”

Osekeny further claimed that URA officials frustrated his efforts to talk to Kagina, who had to approve the 10% commission.

“When that failed, I reported the matter to the Inspector General of Government Justice Faith Mwondha who wrote to Kagina,” he added.

He said Kagina replied Mwondha but he was not given a copy of the letter.

The committee resolved that Chibita and Kajubi should also appear before the MPs next week to clarify the issues.

The motor vehicle license fee, which were paid by all motorists, was scrapped in the 2007/2008 budget.

The finance minister, Ezra Suruma, said the Government was not getting adequate revenue from the fee. He introduced a levy on each litre of fuel to fill the gap created as a result of the abolition.

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