By Rogers Wanambwa 

KIU, Main Campus – Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) registered UGX10.163 trillion in net revenue collections for the first six months of this FY 2021/22, against a target of UGX11.063 trillion.

This represents 45.44% of the annual target. However, URA incurred a shortfall of UGX 900.81 billion was incurred with a performance of 91.86%.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Finance gave URA a revenue target, Planning and Economic Development, of UGX22.36 trillion, which is 16.10% (UGX3.1 trillion) higher than the actual revenue collection from the last financial year.

Addressing the press Wednesday morning about URA’s half-year revenue performance, John R. Musinguzi, the URA Commissioner General, said in the last six months, domestic tax revenue collections were UGX6.23 trillion against a target of UGC7.18 trillion, registering a shortfall of UGX951.32 billion, and performance of 86.75%.

The shortfalls were from direct domestic taxes (UGX 273.61 billion), indirect domestic taxes (UGX 487.20 billion), and Non-Tax Revenue (NTR) (UGX 190.51 billion). 20.03% of the domestic tax shortfall was from Non-Tax Revenue (NTR),” Musinguzi said.

During July to December FY 2021/22, 75.46% of the revenue was generated from the top 5 sectors, including the wholesale and retail trade sector, which had the most significant contribution, amounting to UGX3.03 trillion (29.41%).

The manufacturing sector followed with a contribution of UGX2.41 trillion (23.42%). The financial activity sector contributed UGX1.06 trillion (10.33%). The information and communication sector contributed UGX880.97 billion (8.55%), while public Administration contributed 3.75%.

Value Added Tax Performance

Cumulatively, during the period July to December, VAT worth UGX1.51 trillion was collected against a target of UGX1.87 trillion, registering a performance of 81.04% and a shortfall of UGX355.40 billion.

As a result, a growth of UGX75.23 billion (5.21%) was registered compared to the same period in the previous Financial year.

With the Tax register expansion.

As at end of January 2022, URA had 2,063,462 taxpayers.

“We are targeting to have at least 5 million taxpayers on our register,” Musinguzi said. Generally, Uganda expects to increase to more taxes with clear strategies that have been laid from the way the Commissioner general said.