Taxation in Uganda
A key reform promoted by the IMF and World Bank was the restructuring of Uganda's taxation regime. One of the intentions was to lower the dependence on trade taxes, which reduced incentives for production, and to rely instead on indirect taxes on goods and services. Indirect taxes provided an average of 79.8 percent of total revenue between 1990-1998. Taxes on income and profits have steadily increased from 9.8 percent of total revenue in 1989 to 15.2 percent in 1998. Yet, of total taxes, about 50 percent still emanates from indirect taxes on only 4 products—petroleum, cigarettes, beer, and soft drinks. In fact, Uganda's tax revenue to GDP ratio is fifty percent below the African average.
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) was established to address the priority of improving government tax-collecting abilities. However, it is claimed that almost immediately after the creation of the URA its officials were involved in the major embezzlement of the funds it was set up to collect. In addition, throughout the government departments in 1997-98, US$120 million in tax revenue and government spending was unaccounted for. Due to these high levels of ingrained corruption, low levels of household income, and a small proportion of waged (thus taxable) labor, the majority source of government revenue still emanates from external donors. Of the government's estimated total financial requirement for 2000, US$1.467 billion was expected to come from domestic resources, whereas US$2.255 billion was required in external aid. It is due to regular deficits such as this that Uganda's external debt as a percentage of GNP has risen from 35.5 percent in 1985 to 58.2 percent by 1998.
Read more: Uganda Politics, government, and taxation, Information about Politics, government, and taxation in Uganda http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Uganda-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-AND-TAXATION.html#ixzz1Fn6MDSP4
STAMPS DUTY
Definition – “Stamp duty is a tax raised by requiring stamps sold by
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) was established to address the priority of improving government tax-collecting abilities. However, it is claimed that almost immediately after the creation of the URA its officials were involved in the major embezzlement of the funds it was set up to collect. In addition, throughout the government departments in 1997-98, US$120 million in tax revenue and government spending was unaccounted for. Due to these high levels of ingrained corruption, low levels of household income, and a small proportion of waged (thus taxable) labor, the majority source of government revenue still emanates from external donors. Of the government's estimated total financial requirement for 2000, US$1.467 billion was expected to come from domestic resources, whereas US$2.255 billion was required in external aid. It is due to regular deficits such as this that Uganda's external debt as a percentage of GNP has risen from 35.5 percent in 1985 to 58.2 percent by 1998.
Read more: Uganda Politics, government, and taxation, Information about Politics, government, and taxation in Uganda http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Uganda-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-AND-TAXATION.html#ixzz1Fn6MDSP4
STAMPS DUTY
Definition – “Stamp duty is a tax raised by requiring stamps sold by