Shs2b worth of goods without digital stamps destroyed
The goods were destroyed for flouting digital tax stamps guidelines. Photo / Betty Ndagire
What you need to know:
- The goods were destroyed in Nakasongola District after they were seized from both traders and manufacturers.
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has destroyed consignments of beverages worth Shs2b of tax revenue, over failure to adhere to the policy of affixing Digital Tax Stamp (DTS).
The goods were destroyed in Nakasongola District after they were seized from both traders and manufacturers.
Mr Robert Lumanyika, the URA acting manager public and corporate affairs, said 13,391 cartons of spirits were destroyed after they were found not to conform to the digital tracking system.
URA, amid resistance from a section of traders, implemented digital tax stamps in 2019 on a number of products, among which included spirits, mineral water, soda, wine and sugar, among others.
Mr Lumanyika said the decision to destroy the products was due to failure to conclude that they conform to set standards, noting that for alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages the manufacturers are required to append a standards conformity stamp and a digital tax stamp that aids URA to know the amount of products that have been released into the market.
“We may be losing revenue for government but health comes first. If what you consume does not have the required stamps then, that might be a dangerous product,” he said, adding that URA has issued several reminders to the owners of the goods to claim their products and work on the digital stamp without such.
Digital tax stamps, according to URA, have a number of unique features, among which include colour shift when tilted and are readable on the Kakasa app.
Currently, 13 products, among them beer, spirits, fruits, vegetable juice, soda, wine, mineral water, cement, sugar, cooking, oil, fermented beverages, non-alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, have been gazetted to carry the digital tracking solution.
