Court sets new date for tax case

The refunds stemmed from a law suit against URA, filed by Rock Petroleum Uganda Limited, representing the 39 firms.

The Commercial Division of the High Court has set April 3 as the new date for the hearing of a case in which the Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) is suing the revenue authority and 39 petrol and diesel dealers for “erroneously receiving” a Shs52 billion tax refund.

CEPIL says the money should have trickled down to fuel consumers.
Court documents indicate a court decision in 2010 ordered the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to refund Shs52 billion in illegally collected taxes to the 39 companies.

The refunds stemmed from a law suit against URA, filed by Rock Petroleum Uganda Limited, representing the 39 firms.

CEPIL is seeking a deeper interpretation of the July 2010 ruling by Justice Lameck Mukasa and wants court to force the 39 companies to refund the tax they were refunded.

The new grace period was granted to allow URA and the 39 firms to file their replies to the December 2012 suit by CEPIL. Court also asked CEPIL to utilise this period to respond to a number of points of Law raised by URA and representatives of the 39 firms. It has emerged that some of the 39 firms are yet to file a response.
The Excise Duty had been levied on the firms on the importation of fuel. They translated the charge to the consumers, leading to the high fuel prices experienced between 2007 and late 2010.