Business
URA, KCCA and Registrar’s office join to mop up taxes
URA Supremo Allen Kagina
The partnership code-named Taxpayer Register Expansion Project (TREP) will reportedly improve efficiency in services delivery of the three agencies by facilitating the them to access data on business registration and licenses.
According to the heads of the three agencies, Bemanya said that the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) has in the last three years grown its revenue collection from a mere 3 to 4 billion shillings to 21 Billion shillings.
He said that the bureau is now looking at working in collaboration with KCCA, URA and ensure that next financial year it collects double what is being collected.
“We are capable of doing that. But to do this, we must improve on our efficiency, we must make sure that the clogs in the system are removed” added Bemanya
Meanwhile the Taxpayers Register Expansion Project has left some political leaders unhappy.
Speaking at the launch of the Project where district and divisional councillors were urged to mobilize the business community to embrace the initiative to ensure voluntary compliance, the Kampala Central Divisional Mayor Geoffrey Nyakana and Nakawa Division Mayor Ben Kalumba said different leadership roles should be recognized as per the law.
Nyakana says it may not be easy for the Division leadership to engage the people on such a good initiative for increasing revenue collections without facilitation as the authority urged them to.
He stressed that for long the divisions have been rendered jobless with no operating budget and it would be difficult for the divisions to engage in issues of revenue collection from which they do not benefit.
Commending the initiative Nyakana said that it would be good work if people were willing to be democratic and do things as the law provides for their roles and functions as divisional mayors.
“I assumed that they are calling me for surgery…because they want to collect revenue we are not a revenue body, but having said all that, it is very important to remind the KCCA ED that if she wants to work, she should also let others work,” Nyakana said.
Nyakana urged the government to ensure that the democratic principals enshrined in the constitution are protected.
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