URA Posts Shs19.3 Trillion in Revenue as Collections Rise

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) brought in net revenue of Shs19.3 trillion in FY 2020/21, posting growth in revenue of 14.99% in comparison to the FY 2019/20.

According to the Authority's Commission General John Musinguzi, this indicates an estimated tax to GDP ratio of 12.99%.

While there was growth in revenue, the taxman failed to hit the target of 21.6 trillion which parliament had hope for.

Citing the "impact of Covid-19 and other macroeconomic variables", the Authority said it missed the target by 38.65 billion.

URA picked up Shs12.144trn in domestic revenue, registering a growth of 13.71% in comparison to the FY 2019/20.

"However, the collections were below the target of UGX 14,038.18 billion by UGX 1,894.18 billion," Musinguzi said.

PAYE contributed Shs3.1 trillion, VAT (Shs2.99trn), Corporate tax(Shs1.567trn), Local Excise Duty (Shs1.479trn), Withholding tax (Shs1.118), and the rest brought in Shs1.875 trillion.

For the same period, customs revenue collections were Shs7.5 trillion against a target of Shs8trn.

URA says 71% of the revenue came from the top 4 sectors, with the wholesale and retail trade sector bringing in Shs5.783trn (29.43%), manufacturing sector followed with a contribution of Shs4.461trn (22.70%), Information and communication sector(Shs2.059trn, 10.48%) and Shs1.643trn came from the financial and insurance services sector, which posted 8.39%.

"There was a growth in revenue from key sectors like manufacturing which grew by 27.52%, Information and communication by 25.73%, wholesale and retail by 19.13% and financial and insurance services by 5.55%," URA said.

"On the other hand, there was a decline in revenue collected from some sectors in the FY 2020/21, compared to 2019/20. Revenue from Accommodation and food service activities declined by 37.38%, Education sector by 10.35%, Arts entertainment and recreation by 31.39%. The decline is attributed to slow down in business in these sectors resulting from COVID-19 pandemic impact," it went on.

"There was a growth in revenue from key sectors like manufacturing which grew by 27.52%, Information and communication by 25.73%, wholesale and retail by 19.13% and financial and insurance services by 5.55%. "

The Authority attributed the growth in revenue to a number of factors, namely: debt recovery of Shs1.024 trillion mainly attributed to Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), the voluntary disclosure initiative, close monitoring of Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) for installment payment, and enforcement mechanisms among others.

The Digital Tracking Solutions (DTS) and the Electronic Fiscal Receipting Solution (EFRIS) also boosted performance, according to the taxman.

"DTS contributed to the 16.89 percentage growth in Excise Duty collections by aiding the enforcement and tracking of locally manufactured and imported goods. EFRIS contributed to the 14.73 percentage growth in VAT collections, through relaying real-time taxpayer transaction details to URA, thereby minimizing underreporting of VAT collected from consumers," it said.

"It should be noted that both technologies are still being rolled out and not yet fully enforced."