OPINION: Fulfilling your tax obligations is now easier than ever before- more reason to file and pay your taxes on time

By Sarah M. Chelangat

For years, tax compliance has eluded the tax man with slightly over 2 million taxpayers out of a population of 20 million working adults contributing to the tax base. Of the 2 million registered taxpayers, 50% are companies doing business in Uganda. This means a minimal number of individual Ugandans are contributing to the tax basket. 

In a bid to expand the tax base and bring more Ugandans to contribute to national development, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has introduced initiatives such as a mandatory Tax Identification Number (TIN) for motor vehicle transactions and government suppliers who need tax clearance certificates and the Taxpayer Register Expansion Project (TREP), a door-to-door initiative aimed at sensitization of the citizenry and formalization of the informal sector.

TREP is in collaboration with other government agencies involved in revenue collection and business validation. To simplify taxpayer registration, URA rolled out the instant TIN, a web-based TIN application procedure. This removed the complicated processes that saddled taxpayers and made them prone to errors while trying to register. 

These complications forced many clients to resort to tax agents and internet cafes for help which charged exorbitant fees for their services. And for those who could not afford it, the journey to acquiring a TIN became long, tedious and sometimes intolerable. 

Currently, a taxpayer only needs a National Identification Number (NIN) for individuals or a Certificate of Incorporation for companies. With the NIN, the taxpayer only has to access the URA web portal (www.ura.go.ug) under eServices and apply for registration using the instant TIN option to get a TIN within five minutes.  

To simplify the return filing procedure, URA has introduced the web-based return template for presumptive business taxpayers. These are taxpayers whose business turnover in a year does not exceed UGX 150,000,000. Taxpayers under this bracket are not required to file the excel-based return that they would find complicated to use because they hardly keep records.

With this web-based return, a presumptive taxpayer only needs to visit the URA website, select eServices and under Payments- Payment Registration and select their tax head as Income Tax for small business. The taxpayer will be required to fill in their TIN, and personal business details, submit and the system auto-computes the relevant tax amount. In addition, URA has introduced a web-based provisional income tax return which is accessible through a taxpayer’s TIN account. 

Taxpayers can now pay their taxes using various payment options including mobile money, online payments such as RTGS, EFT and cash payments through banks or agent banking stalls. Therefore, there is no need to line up in the bank as one can use any of these options to fulfil their obligations at their convenience. 

Furthermore, URA has expanded its service centres to Wakiso, Mubende, Kamuli and Kampala Boulevard to bring services closer to the business community. Taxpayers can also contact us through our contact centre via toll-free service helplines 0800-117000/0800-217000 or WhatsApp contact- 0772140000 which is available 24hrs.

During this festive season which coincides with the tax filing and payment deadline of 31^st December, I urge you to file your returns and pay all taxes due on 31st December 2022 by Friday 30th December 2022 to enable clearance of taxes paid before the end of the year. I also urge taxpayers with outstanding taxes to settle their liability to avoid further accumulation of interest. 

Happy Holidays

The writer, Sarah M. Chelangat, is the Commissioner, Domestic Taxes, at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).