URA reviews tax charges in Masaka after traders protest

Mr Jamil Ssenyonjo, the URA Kampala-South regional manager (right), talks to some of the traders in Masaka Town on Wednesday. PHOTO BY MARTINS E SSEKWEYAMA

What you need to know:

  • Records at URA indicate that Masaka sub-region comprising of eight districts has so far registered 124 per cent of their tax target for the first six months of this financial year, which translates to Shs3.74b against a target of Shs3.1b, a performance above last financial year’s collections of 85 per cent.

MASAKA. Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is reviewing all its disputed tax assessments in Masaka, as a way of harmonising tax administration in the area.
The review exercise spearhead by Mr Jamil Ssenyonjo, the Kampala South regional URA manager was prompted by a protest by local taxpayers, mainly the business community who were opposed to what they described as unrealistic tax invoices issued to them by the authority’s tax assessment teams.
Mr Ssenyonjo, on Wednesday, led a team of assessors on a door-to-door exercise around the area, to re-evaluate the aggrieved traders before they either withdraw or adjust several of the assessments issued above traders’ taxable incomes.

He noted that some of the rates had been derived from miscalculated or misconceived business assessments by their staff, which the Authority has mandate to reconsider.
“We have a duty to explain to community the basis for any tax assessment, which work ought to begin with explaining the chargeable incomes, amount of tax thereof and may be any administrative assessment which we might not have done in the process,” he said, adding that the communication gap constituted part of the bigger question that provoke the grievances.
Mr Ssenyonjo revealed that URA has assigned the region a more senior station head, to oversee tax administration such that such grievances are attended to on time, arguing that part of the problem was due the gap that has been in place.

“We have listened, that’s why we have made some adjustments in some of these earlier assessments upon understanding the taxpayer in totality and we have agreed that this is how we shall handle tax matters going forward and sustain the rapport,” he observed.
The team leader, who had anticipated meeting a hostile taxpaying community, noted that commissioner general Doris Akol is yet to organise more of such engagements.
According to Mr Ssenyonjo, this will help in empowering communities with required capacity to willfully file their returns and eventually avoid such complaints in future.
Mr Ian Rumanyika, the URA public and corporate affairs manager, said they could not ignore the complaints given Masaka’s thriving revenue performance which is far above their expectations.

Performance
Records at URA indicate that Masaka sub-region comprising of eight districts has so far registered 124 per cent of their tax target for the first six months of this financial year, which translates to Shs3.74b against a target of Shs3.1b, a performance above last financial year’s collections of 85 per cent.
In 2015/16 financial, URA Masaka office collected Shs5.171b below a target of 6.1b
Masaka region has 32,109 registered taxpayers, with noted improvement in Value Added Tax and Pay As You Earn taxes. URA projects this number to grow by 15 per cent in the next fiscal year.