The battle on whether to tax mobile money services or not has gone to court.
Finance minister Maria Kiwanuka has been dragged to the Constitutional court for allegedly recognizing mobile money services as an economic activity which is against the financial institutions’ Act.
The petitioner, one Joshua Tumwiine a tax consultant blames Kiwanuka for unlawfully imposing a 10% tax duty on Mobile money withdrawal fees in the 2014-2015 budget proposals to parliament.
Tumwiine says the financial institution’s Act and Bank of Uganda do not recognize mobile money operators as one of the financial institutions that should be regulated.
According to the budget estimates brought forward, government expects to collect 32 billion shillings this financial year by charging 10% tax on each withdrawal made.
Tumwiine now wants the Constitutional court to declare the minister’s act illegal and also issue a permanent injunction stopping the proposal.
The Attorney General has already asked court to dismiss the petition.
