URA has intensified efforts to strengthen tax compliance among government entities through specialised training and hands on support for staff across the country.

During an engagement held in Sironko with district leaders on Monday, Marion Lubowa, the Supervisor for Enforcement and Compliance in URA ’s Public Sector Office (PSO) highlighted several gaps affecting compliance in local governments.

These include false declarations, misuse of agents, obstruction of tax officers, and failure to meet tax obligations. Lubowa warned that such practices attract heavy penalties under the tax laws.

Local leaders, however, attributed inconsistent return filing to inefficiencies within the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), intermittent network failures, and unclear payroll processes.

“When managing taxes through the system, there is no direct provision for indicating the tax period,” observed Geoffrey Wamaniala, the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of Sironko. “While you may narrate it during payment initiation, the interface does not automatically capture it.”

He explained that this limitation forces officers to manually trace and reassign payments to the correct tax periods, a process that increases workload and the risk of errors.

Lubowa acknowledged the concern and encouraged local governments to strengthen the technical capacity of staff responsible for tax filing to improve compliance.

Meanwhile, the engagement brought together leaders from Budadiri, Mutufu, Buteza, Bukite, and Kama Town Councils, among others, as URA continues to work closely with public sector institutions to improve tax administration and compliance.

By Garry Fortunate Murungi