Prime
Uproar over plan to waive Shs13b taxes for 8 entities
State Minister of Finance Henry Musasizi and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner for Domestic Taxes, Sarah Chelanga, appear before Parliament's Finance Committee at Parliament in Kampala on August 20, 2024. PHOTO/DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- The legislators questioned the criteria the government used to arrive at the eight entities.
Ministry of Finance and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) officials yesterday struggled to convince Parliament’s Committee on Finance to endorse a government plan to extend tax waivers of about Shs13 billion to eight entities.
In his plea made before the committee, the State Minister for Finance-in-charge of General Duties, Mr Henry Musasizi, asked MPs to exempt entities that comprised academic institutions and business outlets from paying taxes.
The eight institutions include Makerere Business Institute (MBI) (Shs239.3 million), Nkumba University (Shs4.47 billion), M/S J2E Investment Corporation Ltd (Shs2.71 billion) and Donati Kananura (Shs3.776 billion).
The others are; Nicontra Ltd seeking an exemption of Shs1.863 billion, Mr Peter Lokwang who wants a waiver of 770.29 million, Busoga University with Shs1.566 billion and Kisiizi Hospital Power Ltd with Shs155.392 million.
However, the legislators, including Mr Karim Masaba and Shadow Finance Minister Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, questioned the criteria the government used to arrive at the eight entities to be exempted from taxes.
Mr Masaba was not convinced that among the grounds upon which the government wants to exempt Mr Kananura from paying taxes is due to medical illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and prostate enlargement.
In another unverified claim before the committee, Mr Kananura is said to own a string of commercial properties that “are located on William Street, Nabugabo and Namirembe Road,” something Mr Masaba questioned.
Queries
“How many Ugandans are sick? So if you are exempting someone based on sickness and then that means you will exempt the entire country. If you exempt in a selective manner for such reasons, then you are being unfair to the millions out there who are paying taxes,” Mr Masaba said.
On the other hand, Mr Ssemujju was displeased that such exemptions are being pushed by the government despite the struggles URA makes in collecting revenue.
“There are two critical issues to look out for this financial year. We are meant to collect taxes to a tune of Shs31 trillion, but we have a budget of Shs72.136 trillion. Government isn’t able to raise enough taxes to fund its operations, but the same government has tabled a list of taxpayers who should be forgiven from paying taxes,” he said.
In response, Mr Musasizi said the exemptions were duly assessed and processed before being tabled before the committee.
“Where the commissioner is of the opinion that the whole or any part of the tax payable under the law by the taxpayer can’t be effectively recovered, by reason of hardship, impossibility and due to difficulty or excessive cost of recovery, the commissioner may refer the taxpayer’s case to the minister,” he said.
He added: “And when the minister receives the case, the law requires that we submit the case to Parliament and it is on this basis that I submitted a request.”
