Busoga Kingdom Television Station, Baba TV and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) have Saturday held a Tax Baraza at the Source of the Nile Hotel in Jinja, Eastern Uganda.
Moderated by Senior Journalist, Samuel Mwesigwa, the Baraza which centred on business tax obligations for SMEs, saw different tax experts including Robert Wamala Lumanyika the Ag Manager Public and Corporate Affairs at URA, speak.
Lumanyika defined a small business from a tax perspective as one whose annual gross sales (turnover) is between Ugx 10m and Ugx 150m, noting that book keeping is thus paramount for any small business and fulfilment of obligations like return filing and prompt payment.
He noted that small businesses are many but few are compliant. Lumanyika revealed that in the last financial year, they projected Ugx 12 Billion revenue from small businesses but were able to collect only Ugx 6 billion.
He explained that the countries Uganda relied on for donor funds were greatly affected by Covid-19 and the country now relies on domestic revenue.
“So whenever you make a contribution to tax, you are giving Uganda an economic advantage,” he reiterated.
Other tax educators included Bankyaye Godfrey Officer Domestic Taxes, Gabula Kyankonye Executive Director Busoga Business Community, Zziwa Julius and Jamir Kibirige.
The event was relayed live on Baba Television and its social media platforms.