Overview:
According to Mr Ramathan Ggoobi, the secretary to the Treasury, government can’t cut taxes at a time when it seeks to expand the tax base.
The Government of Uganda has indicated that there will be no tax cuts during the 2023/24 financial year.
According to Mr Ramathan Ggoobi, the secretary to the Treasury, government can’t cut taxes at a time when it seeks to expand the tax base.
He says that attention will be focused on supporting economic productivity, implementation of reforms and enhancing efficiency in the public sector.
“We will be expanding the tax base by enrolling more tax payers and expanding things to be included in the tax system,” he says.
Ggoobi said some of the incentives or tax exemption extended by government to the private sector have been abused.
“We are not going to increase or introduce new taxes. Increasing taxes in most cases falls on the same people who are already paying,”
Ramathan Ggoobi, secretary to the Treasury
He says through rationalising, there will be questions and answers such as whether there are investments in the country, which would take place with or without incentives and how efficient exemptions are to the country, beneficiaries and citizens, as a whole.
The report, authored by Seatini and supported by USAID, indicates that over the last three financial years, Uganda has foregone more than Shs5 trillion in taxable revenue, which translates into 3.6 per cent of gross domestic product, resulting from tax incentives and exemptions advanced to both local and mainly foreign investors.
Ggoobi also ruled out introduction of new tax or increase in existing ones during the 2023/24 financial year.
“We are not going to increase or introduce new taxes. Increasing taxes in most cases falls on the same people who are already paying,” he explains.