The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) exceeded the revenue collection target for July by sh93.9b, data from the tax body shows.
The revenue performance report indicated that the taxman collected sh2.1 trillion against a target of 2.09 trillion.
It said the surplus of 93.9b led to a performance of 104.48%.
“It is a beautiful beginning for the new financial year, which has seen us get a performance of 104.48% for July,” the report released by Robert Kalumba, URA’s assistant commissioner of public and corporate affairs, says.
Domestic taxes collected amounted to sh1.3 trillion against a target of sh1.2 trillion, creating a surplus of sh67.3b, while customs taxes totalled sh853.4b, with a surplus of sh26.6b.
URA said it expects to receive an extra sh2ob from the ministry payments for the Pay As You Earn and withholding tax collected from the ministries.
Comparison With Last Year
“This will push us further to a surplus of sh113b for July.
This performance has seen an increment of 18.75% in comparison to the performance of July last year, where the total amount collected was sh1.8 trillion,” the tax body said.
URA had registered a shortfall of sh130.36b in domestic revenue collections in May, according to the finance ministry’s performance of the economy report for that month.
The ministry’s report noted that the May performance was on account of lower-than-planned collections under value-added tax and excise duty due to tax administration challenges.
Number of taxpayers
In May last year, the commissioner general of URA, John Musinguzi, said their register had about 3.2 million taxpayers.
“Whereas we could be having nine million potential taxpayers, our register now has about 3.2 million people, but it is an increment from about 1.5 million taxpayers that we had two years ago,” he said.
Musinguzi said he looks forward to the time when Uganda’s budget will be fully supported by the taxes collected internally. When taxpayers perform their civic duty each year, Musinguzi said, they help fund critical aspects of Uganda’s social amenities including schools, roads, hospitals and security.
“Therefore, it is incumbent upon all of us to be compliant with our tax obligations for this to happen. “
Those of you that are still lagging on this important calling, as the national fundraiser, we pledge our availability, support and commitment to make available the information, services and technical support that you need to get on board,” he said.
Plans And Govt Support
Uganda Revenue Authority has already pledged to bolster its tax administration efforts to achieve its revenue target of sh31.98 trillion for this financial year.
The sh72.136 trillion budget for this financial year, which began on July 1, comprises recurrent expenditure of sh18.9 trillion and development expenditure of sh34.7 trillion.
President Yoweri Museveni has been calling upon URA to plug gaps in tax collection so that the country can gain financial independence and stop borrowing money to finance its budget.
“Tax collection is a liberation tool and must be supported. Today, Africa is a continent of shame. We are recipients of donations yet we used to manage our affairs,” he said.
