The URA Tax Literacy Unit recently conducted a client onboarding session for new taxpayers operating within Kampala East Quarters. The taxpayers were given an expositional study on the different tax regimes. They were taught, among other things, about the thresholds and percentage tax levied on different taxes.

The free sessions are part of the greater effort by the revenue body to continually build a tax alert generation in the country, most notably in the Central Business District (CBD).

Ronnie Byamugisha, a seasoned tax educator, said URA embodies the responsibility of enlightening new taxpayers.

“The Tax Literacy Unit has a mandate to train all new taxpayers who have just gotten their Tax Identification Number (TIN),” said Byamugisha.

He continued, “We try to understand them and the businesses that they are doing. We explore the reasons why they got a TIN. We then introduce them to the business of URA and then guide them through their rights and responsibilities,” said Ronnie.

Ronnie says that this endeavor is to mitigate the information gap that taxpayers and the public have due to a lack of information. He also said that it is meant to demystify some of the issues related to thresholds and how taxes are enforced.

“Most taxpayers come for tax education at a time when they have gotten into a challenge or are in some sort of loggerheads,” said Ronnie before he added, “Now we are trying to put it the other way around so that we educate them on what to do beforehand.”

He added, “When they know what to do, they start to pay taxes, file returns, and, in the long run, become compliant and diligent taxpayers.”

The Tax Literacy Unit will also orient taxpayers from the Kampala Metro sub-region at Kampala Boulevard.

By Dismas Nuwaine, MMU/PCA