URA registers highest tax growth in 4 years

The Commissioner-General of Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) John Musinguzi Rujoki has announced that although they failed to meet their target in the last financial year 2020/21 they have register the highest tax growth in the period of four years.

Speaking during the media briefing on Thursday at the URA headquarters in Nakawa, Musinguzi said they collected a net revenue of Shs19.2trn posting a growth of 14 percent compared to FY2019/20 indicating an estimated tax to Gross Domestic Product of 12.9 percent.

“We collected a net revenue of shs19263 billion(shs19.2trillion) and posted growth in revenue of 14.99 percent in comparison to the FY 2019/20 and an estimated tax to GDP ratio of 12.99 percent. In real terms, this reflects growth in revenue of Shs 2,511.36 billion and growth in the Tax to GDP ratio by 1 percent. This the highest growth registered in the last four years,” he said.

On the general collection of the whole taxes, Musinguzi said; “It should however be noted that the outturn of the FY 2020/21 is short of the target of Shs21,638.65 bn by she2,375.65 bn that was set by the Parliament.”

On why the tax body failed to meet the target, the Commissioner General confirmed that there was a decline in revenue collected from some sectors in FY2020/2021 due to Covid-19 which mainly slowed down many businesses. He also noted countries like Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda Revenue Authorities met their targets in the FY 2020/21 because they set their targets in consideration of the Covid-19 impact.

Musinguzi however added that the Domestic revenue collections in the FY 2020/21 were Shs 12,144.01 bn, registering a growth of 13.71 percent (Shs1,464.19 Bn) in comparison to FY 2019/20. Even though, the collections were also below the target of Shs 14,038.18 billion by Shs1,894.18 Bn.

Domestic revenue collections were; Pay as You Earn (PAYE) Shs3,109.14bn, Value Added Tax (VAT) Shs2,992.92, Corporate Tax 1,567.65bn, Local Excise Duty (LED) Shs1, 479.98bn Withholding tax Shs1,11899bn and other Shs1, 875.33bn.

Customs revenue collections in the FY 2020/21, were Shs7,505.86 Bn against a target of Shs8,001.35 Bn, registering a significant growth of 16.43 percent (Shs1,059.27 Bn) in comparison to FY 2019/20. However, the collections were Shs495.48 Bn below target.

Customs revenues collections were; Value added Taxes collected on imports Shs2,832.47bn. Petroleum duty Shs2,453.38bn, Import Duty was Shs1,403.12bn and others Shs816.89bn.

In total Domestic Revenue, collections were Shs12,14401bn while Customs Revenue collections were Shs7,505.86bn. Percentage-wise Domestic revenue had a growth of 13.71 percent while Customs revenue was at 16.43 percent.

Statistics also showed that 189,377 new taxpayers were registered, therefore by the end of the last FY the tax register had 1,783,493 taxpayers.