URA closes businesses in Mbale over taxes

Closed. Employees of Kayegi Hotel stand outside the facility after Uganda Revenue Authority sealed it off for failure to pay tax arrears in 2015. PHOTO BY FRED WAMBEDDE

What you need to know:

Defiant. The URA debt collection supervisor said the entrepreneurs had failed to adhere to the reminders since 2009

Mbale.

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has closed several businesses in Mbale town over accumulated tax arrears.

The premises which were shutdown at the weekend are those whose landlords have allegedly failed to remit Value Added Tax (VAT) amounting to more than Shs1 billion over the last five years.

Mr Stanley Kabyemera, the URA debt collection supervisor, told Daily Monitor that the entrepreneurs had failed to adhere to the reminders to pay the tax since 2009.

“We are enforcing tax collection from businesses that have failed to pay tax arrears for the past six years despite continued reminders for them to do so. We are not doing this in Mbale only but also countrywide,” he said.

Mr Kabyemera said they had also closed down Voice of Teso Ltd, a company that runs Voice of Teso Radio station, for failing to remit both VAT and Pay As You Earn deductions from employees amounting to Shs210 million.

The premises that were sealed off included Kayegi Hotel in Senior Quarters with a debt reportedly of Shs15 million, Happy Supermarket (Shs55 million) and Sumi Supermarket (Shs30 million) in tax arrears.

Others are Mpologoma House which houses several shops, including YY Coaches’ offices, with an alleged Shs84 million tax debt, and a building accommodating MTN and AIRTEL regional operation centres, which has Shs13 million tax arrears as well as Eastern Auto parts indebted to the tune of Shs20 million.

However, majority owners of the businesses who spoke to Daily Monitor claim URA never notified them. A worker at MTN regional centre who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the press said MTN has been in the premises for two months and they were not aware the landlord was not paying VAT.

Closed businesses
Voice of Teso Ltd
Kayegi Hotel
Happy Supermarket
Sumi Supermarket
Mpologoma House
MTN and AIRTEL centres
Eastern Auto parts