FINANCE MINISTER APPLAUDS URA IN “HISTORICAL” BUDGET SPEECH.

In what the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development coined as a ‘historical’ budget reading, the URA took the opportunity to bask in the same glory.

Presenting the F/Y 2013/2014 Budget framework proposals this afternoon at Serena Conference Centre, Hon. Maria Kiwanuka commended URA for her efforts in building strong systems to aid tax administration. “ Revenue Authority has built a strong foundation enabling taxpayer compliance and tax revenue performance,” the minister remarked followed by a thunderous applause from dignitaries present who included the , Members of Parliament and members of the diplomatic corps.

Hon. Maria Kiwanuka, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (FILE PHOTO).

She added that as a result of this, revenue performance has increased from year to year by about 17%. She further appealed to URA to uphold this performance by;

· intensifying efforts to enforce compliance among taxpayers,

· continue expansion of the audit coverage to include the bulk of the largest traders and conduct joint audits in the domestic tax and customs departments to detect and sanction non- compliance and fraud in a number of taxes,

· enforce the use of the Tax Identification Number for all traders who receive trading and other licenses and permits from KCCA and Local Governments,

· clean up the VAT register to ensure that only those capable of filing monthly and paying remain on the register.

To raise revenue for the next financial year, the minister proposed amendments to the tax laws to improve tax administration and enhance compliance. Notably is to allow collaboration between URA, KCCA and Local Governments in tax collection.

According to the minister, this would enable URA capture and identify taxpayers off the radar. The will collect taxes amounting to UgShs. 8,486 billion in the F/Y 2013/2014 where the government anticipates 81.1% funding of the national budget from domestic sources while external funding will contribute UgShs 2,660 billion representing 20% of the total budget.