Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) collected 27 billion Shillings in both mobile money and Over The Top (OTT) taxes, during the month of July.
URA Commissioner General Doris Akol says that during the month, URA collected 4.7 billion Shillings from OTT commonly referred to as social media tax and 22.3 billion Shillings from Mobile Money transactions.
The taxes were part of the new measures that came into effect at the beginning of the 2018-2019 financial year. A daily rate of 200 Shillings is charged for each subscriber to access social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram, among others, while 1 percent is charged from each mobile money transaction.
Akol says that although the two taxes triggered public uproar upon their introduction, the implementation was very successful and the policy decision has expanded the tax base. She was speaking at the launch of the tax payers’ appreciation week at the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) head office in Kampala today.
The Taxpayers appreciation week is scheduled to run from September 26 to 26, 2018. During the week, URA will partner with government ministries, departments and agencies to offer services at no cost and account for allocations from tax revenues.
The services include legal advice, financial and tax advisory, verification of land titles, eye care, HIV testing, cancer screening, heart checkups and yellow fever vaccination. Up to 200 compliant tax payers will have an opportunity to exhibit their good at the Innovation hubs (villages), Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) village which will be set up at Kololo Airstrip.
Akol explains that the ultimate goal of the Taxpayers Appreciation Week is to increase awareness, promote Government programmes as well as transparency and accountability.
– URN
