Uganda Revenue Authority has today started the exercise of waiving penalties that were issued for failure to issue finalized receipts.

The week-long activity is to primarily benefit taxpayers who were new to the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System (EFRIS), according to a notice issued by the authority last week. It also follows the President’s directive in his May 7th meeting with traders at the Kololo independence grounds to waive all penalties issued to traders for failure to issue e-receipts.

Speaking about the exercise, URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi noted that technology adoption comes with challenges and requires a transition period for people to learn, internalize, and adapt to the changes.

He said that EFRIS initially intimidated some taxpayers; hence, they could have been penalized before fully understanding the new technology.

Musinguzi also noted that the exercise will help the tax body understand the challenges hindering some taxpayers from adopting the technology.

“The phased rollout of EFRIS, especially in central business areas, faced resistance from taxpayers who failed to appreciate the technology, and URA is engaging the penalized taxpayers to understand why they were not using EFRIS.”

On the side-lines of the exercise, taxpayers are getting trained on how to effectively use EFRIS to support their compliance. Musinguzi expressed hope that they will comply going forward.

Traders queried various aspects of the system, like how to rectify errors after issuing receipts, and these were addressed by URA’s tax experts.

They also appreciated the tax body for the waiver.

By Irene Kabakama