Kampala city traders in business spots such as Kikuubo have closed their shops in a bid to express their dissatisfaction over Uganda’s current tax demands.
In a bid to ensure tax compliance in Uganda, the Uganda Revenue Authority introduced the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution Server (EFRIS) in 2021. Though the system has been in place for the last three years, its enforcement and compliance have been very low.
At the beginning of this year, Uganda Revenue Authority in partnership with Uganda Police set out to enforce tax compliance in the city center through EFRIS. Unfortunately, most of the city traders have been evading most of the taxes that have to be computed at the point of sale.
It is from such a background that tax enforcement has come off as an introduction of new taxes even though these taxes have already been in existence. The city traders have today done a sit-down demonstration in an attempt to be heard by the government.
It should be noted that over one hundred businesses that were remitting at least one billion is taxes closed in the last 5 years. Many entrepreneurs have decried the unfair taxation system amidst the limited access to capital.