URA posts 15.85% growth in taxes, PAYE down

Nov 16, 2014

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) commissioner general, Doris Akol, has announced a 15.85% growth in annual tax contributions to government coffers as the economic growth momentum picks up.

By Vision Reporter

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) commissioner general, Doris Akol, has announced a 15.85% growth in annual tax contributions to government coffers as the economic growth momentum picks up.


Net collections hit sh2.8 trillion for the months of July to October 2014. The figure was a 99.98% performance or just sh57m shy of targets. Surveys show that Uganda has the best tax performance in the East African region.

“The taxpayer register expansion project initiative has continued to yield results from the extensive field operations during the year 2014/15,” Akol said.

Domestic taxes performed better than international trade taxes, coming at sh1.5 trillion or 100.61% against targets, compared to sh1.39 trillion or 99.37% against targets for customs.

Fuel import volumes increased by 9.47% to 46.05 litres, while imports of VATable products like cement, neutral spirits and cigarettes went up 12.08% to sh3 trillion from sh2.7trillion last year, boosting overall tax collections.

There was a 16.1% increase in Withholding tax to sh148b, a special levy on mobile money transfers yielded a sh9.72b surplus over targets, while taxes on sugar yielded a sh2.54b surplus. Akol noted that 4,030 workers were laid off by the top 300 tax payers, leading to reductions in Pay As You Earn (PAYE).

Most affected was the oil sector, whose PAYE contribution fell by sh3.2b as the sector moves from exploration to production. There was a decline in taxes from the beer sector, as companies produced brands with lower excise duty such as malts and those made from local raw material.

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