URA hits targets
May 20, 2003
FOR the first time in several years, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) hit its projected targets, Chris Kassami, the finance permanent secretary has said yesterday
By Okodan Akwap
FOR the first time in several years, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) hit its projected targets, Chris Kassami, the finance permanent secretary has said yesterday.
Kassami said that between July 2002 and March 2003, URA bagged sh1,009b as projected. He was presenting to the Public Expenditure Review (PER) a detailed paper on the performance (in the first three quarters) of the current financial year. The theme of the PER meeting at Kampala’s International Conference Centre was “Efficiency and Effectiveness of Public Expenditure.â€
The tax agency is expected to collect a total of sh1392b by the end of this fiscal year, up from sh1212b collected in 2001/02.
Last year URA had a shortfall of sh46b.
“This year’s better performance is largely due to improvements in VAT and international trade collections,†Kassami said.
However, Beatrice Kirasa, the chairperson of Parliament’s budget committee, said the Government tended to delay paying its taxes, and added, “setting an unpleasant example to other taxpayers,†she said.
She said that 51% of URA’s gross revenue comes from international trade, meaning there is a need to expand and collect domestic taxes.
She said the proceedings of the Ssebutinde Commission into URA operations, had recommended further improvement in the tax administration.
On spending, Kassami said a total of sh1,508b was released from the budget in the July 2002 to March 2003 period.
FOR the first time in several years, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) hit its projected targets, Chris Kassami, the finance permanent secretary has said yesterday.
Kassami said that between July 2002 and March 2003, URA bagged sh1,009b as projected. He was presenting to the Public Expenditure Review (PER) a detailed paper on the performance (in the first three quarters) of the current financial year. The theme of the PER meeting at Kampala’s International Conference Centre was “Efficiency and Effectiveness of Public Expenditure.â€
The tax agency is expected to collect a total of sh1392b by the end of this fiscal year, up from sh1212b collected in 2001/02.
Last year URA had a shortfall of sh46b.
“This year’s better performance is largely due to improvements in VAT and international trade collections,†Kassami said.
However, Beatrice Kirasa, the chairperson of Parliament’s budget committee, said the Government tended to delay paying its taxes, and added, “setting an unpleasant example to other taxpayers,†she said.
She said that 51% of URA’s gross revenue comes from international trade, meaning there is a need to expand and collect domestic taxes.
She said the proceedings of the Ssebutinde Commission into URA operations, had recommended further improvement in the tax administration.
On spending, Kassami said a total of sh1,508b was released from the budget in the July 2002 to March 2003 period.