Government to lose Shs30b as ban on old cars effected

Speaking in an interview yesterday in Kampala, the URA Commissioner Customs, Mr Dicksons Collins Kateshumbwa, said cars that were imported before September 30 will be allowed into the country. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Levy. The environmental levy that will be imposed on imported vehicles that are between nine and 15 years old from the date of manufacture, according to the Amended Traffic and Road Safety Act, 2018.

Kampala. Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) will lose at least Shs30b in revenue every month following the commencement of the ban on importation of used vehicles that are 15 years old or more.
The ban was enforced based on the Amended Traffic and Road Safety Act, 2018. The only reprieve the law offered was on car imports which were in transit before the commencement of the Act—July 1, 2018.

Speaking in an interview yesterday in Kampala, the URA Commissioner Customs, Mr Dicksons Collins Kateshumbwa, said cars that were imported before September 30 will be allowed into the country.
Mr Kateshumbwa said now that the deadline has elapsed, the tax body will enforce the law as it is despite the losses that come with such actions.

“On average, we collect about Shs120b every month from imports of about 4,000 vehicles, most of which are used,” he said.
“We are likely to miss an opportunity of collecting some revenue of about Shs30b every month but we shall recover this by tightening our administrative inefficiencies and through other sources,” he added.

Restrictions
Mr Kateshumbwa said the used car imports will not be allowed to dock at the two main ports of entry—Mombasa and Dares Salaam.
Even those heading to (re-export) DR Congo will not be allowed in unless their date of manufacture is eight years or below as required by the country’s law.
For the ones that will be heading to South Sudan, they will be escorted and arrangements made to ensure that they pay their due taxes.

It further emerged that the 5,500 used vehicles in various bondwarehouse in the country will be given a six-month period as provided for in the law before they are disposed of if not sold by then.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the Association of Used Motor Dealers, 2015, Mr Francis Kanakulya, said: “We do not have much to say about that except advising those affected to re-export their used motor vehicles elsewhere. That is still possible.”

Levy. The environmental levy that will be imposed on imported vehicles that are between nine and 15 years old from the date of manufacture, according to the Amended Traffic and Road Safety Act, 2018.