URA recovers Shs 500bn in 6months

By Benjamin Jumbe

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has boasted of improved tax administration systems through the voluntary tax compliance model.

Speaking to journalists during a one-day training on tax matters and the Kakasa campaign, Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs Mr. Ian Rumanyika said the authority is shifting from enforcement to the voluntary model.

He said the enforcement approach was more expensive, but this new approach is cheaper and has already started bearing fruit.

Mr Rumanyika also revealed that the authority in the last 6 months was able to collect Shs500 bn through the alternative dispute resolutions approach.

“We have been in court we have to pay lawyers, it is a cost on our part. Imagine you are in court for 5 years, i lose the case, we give the penalties, the government loses. So we said let’s put a human face to this issue and sit on the table to resolve this. Isn’t that good?”, said Mr. Rumanyika.

He adds that Shs17.8 bn has been collected from voluntary disclosure.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna