Fishing is the practice of catching wild fish for food, recreation, trade, or their products. Methods used include hooking, trapping, and gathering.

A fishmonger is someone who sells raw fish and seafood.

In Uganda, fishing is most widely done on a large scale in the Ssese Islands, a group of 84 islands. The biggest and most active of these is Bugala Island in Kalangala District, and Koome Island in Mukono District. Fishing is the principal economic activity on these islands.

Fish is one of the high value commodities that contribute to economic growth in Uganda. It contributes 3% to National GDP and 12% to the Agriculture Sector GDP. Fisheries include; Capture fisheries, which harvest wild stock, culture fisheries, which manage stock (including open ocean and offshore aquaculture) and marine and freshwater fish processing

The following are the obligations of the fishermen?

• Registration for taxes
• Timely return filing
• Timely payment of tax

All businesses in the fishing sector in Uganda are required to be registered with;

• Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) for Company registration
• Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) for taxes
• National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) for issuance of environmental licenses.

Please note:

Upon registration, fishing companies are required to comply with the requirements of statutory bodies like;

• Uganda Investment Authority (UIA)
• Department of Fisheries Control, Regulation and Quality Assurance under Ministry of Agriculture, Animal industry and Fisheries.
• For fishermen and fish mongers, your license cannot be renewed unless you have a TIN

For individual

• National ID or any other two of the following valid identification documents;  Passport, Driving permit, Voter’s card, Village ID, Employment ID, Refugee ID, recent Bank statement, Work permit, financial card, Visa, NSSF card etc.
• Certificate of registration (incase you are in business)
• Statement of particulars and partnership deeds (incase of a partnership)

For non-individual

• Company Form 20
• Certificate of incorporation

Click here for details on requirements for registration of your fishing business

• You’re required to visit the URA portal on ura.go.ug
• Click here to register for an individual
• Click here to register as a non-individual

Click here for your rights  as a taxpayer

Click here for your obligations as a taxpayer

You need to keep records relating to all transactions in your business. It is important to always have records that are dated so that you can understand which reports relate to what period. These include;

• Income statement records
• Record of receipts/invoices.
• Balance sheet
• Payroll for your employees and appointment letters
• Import schedules if applicable
• Bank statements
• Utility bills
• Fish stock records
• Asset registers
• Debtors and Creditors
• Suppliers agreements and payments

The following;

• Keep proper records of all business transactions in the English language.
• If you wish to keep records in a different language or currency, apply in writing with clear reasons to the commissioner for permission.
• Where a record is not in English, you will be required to meet the cost of translation into English by a translator approved by the Commissioner.
• Keep records such that it is easy to determine your tax liability;
• Keep records for five years after the end of the tax period to which they relate for future reference.
• In case a record is necessary for a proceeding that started before the end of the 5-year period, you will be required to keep the record until the end of the proceedings.
• The records kept should contain sufficient transaction information and should be saved in a format that is capable of being recovered and converted to a standard understandable.

For more information, please visit the nearest URA office for assistance or call the toll-free line 0800117000/0800217000 or WhatsApp: 077214000