The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) registered a 13 per cent progress in Value Added Tax (VAT) within the 12 months ended 30 June 2023.
This is contained in a report of the Public Accounts Committee on Commissions Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) which noticed that the expansion was largely pushed by native manufacturing of products and companies that appeal to VAT.
The sugar manufacturing registered a surplus of Shs7.79 billion which was attributed to well timed enforcement of the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoice Solutions (EFRIS).
The Chairperson of the committee, Hon. Medard Lubega Sseggona introduced the report throughout on Tuesday, 01October 2024.
“The committee recommends enforcement of EFRIS to all eligible tax payers to extend tax income collections. URA ought to roll out EFRIS after intensive and complete sensitisation of tax payers,” Sseggona mentioned.
The report noticed that the roll out of EFRIS was overdue noting that the registration of tax payers onto the system is envisaged to have ended by June 2014 and rolled out in July 2024.
“The accounting officer ought to quick monitor completion of the system to make sure the seamless functioning of the EFRIS and improve tax administration efficiencies,” learn the report partly.
According to the committee, insufficient tax payer training amongst the inhabitants had resulted into apathy and resistance in opposition to the brand new VAT tax assortment modality.
“Management of URA ought to put money into tax payer training to extend tax compliance and improved income assortment which was the target of introducing EFRIS,” Sseggona mentioned.
Arua District Woman Representative, Hon. Lillian Paparu proposed involvement of native leaders in tax payer training blaming the misunderstandings between URA officers and native enterprise communities to low involvement of native leaders.
“Let native leaders be concerned and tax training enhanced so that there’s a good relationship between URA and the group,” she mentioned.
In a associated growth, the committee additionally introduced a report on the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and faulted the organisation for not following accounting and expenditure procedures.
Sseggona mentioned that UWA spent Shs4.7 billion above its permitted funds which he mentioned is tantamount to fraud.
According to the report, the wildlife regulator was discovered to have unaccounted for expenditure of over Shs462 million.
“For expenditure amounting to Shs198 million there have been no supporting paperwork whereas cost vouchers for Shs264 million had been lacking. As a consequence, the Auditor General was unable to substantiate whether or not the funds in query totaling to Shs462 million had been spent for the supposed functions,” Sseggona mentioned.
MPs really useful that entities with weak inner accounting mechanisms must be compelled to submit their non-tax income collections to the Consolidated Fund to keep away from the probability of fraud.
“We are seeing leakages in income spent on the supply from a number of COSASE stories. In one report, when Uganda Revenue Authority took over the income collections, the non-tax income elevated,” mentioned Hon. Fredrick Angura (NRM, Tororo South County).
