Uganda goes after informal sector

By Wesley Spartan

KAMPALA, Uganda - The informal sector, which has been largely outside the tax base, must tighten their belts as Uganda Finance Minister Matia Kasaija read a Ush24 trillion ($8 billion) budget that largely targets them.
Kasaija who said external financing will be Ush5, 649 billion,
Domestic Funding (TBs) or borrowing Ush1,384 billion and other sources at Ush5,606 billion tasked the Uganda Revenue Authority to domestically collect Ush11,333 billion.
This meant that institutions that have been previously outside the tax bracket like the informal sector, which accounts for 49% of the economic output, must acquire a Tax Identification Number popularly known as TIN before acquiring a license.
This will make it easier for the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to collect taxes from them.
While reading the Budget, Kasaija said an allocation of USh 1,632.89 billion was approved for the maintenance of National Security and Defence, with specific emphasis will be placed on the acquisition of modern weapons, strengthening intelligence capability, training and welfare.
“With commercializing Production and Value Addition, Agriculture was allocated with USh 479.96. This will address provision of agricultural inputs to farmers, promotion of value addition for strategic commodities, funding of research to increase productivity and disease resistance varieties, control of pests and diseases, with special emphasis on Banana and Coffee Bacterial Wilt and Foot and Mouth Disease, construction of valley tanks and dams for livestock and crop irrigation and provision of affordable long term financing under the Agricultural Credit Facility (ACF) for agriculture, agro-processing and agro-based value addition,” said Kasaija.
For industrial development Kasaija said the government will continue to operationalize industrial and business parks at Namanve, Luzira, Mukono and Mbale to provide serviced areas for development of manufacturing and other business enterprises.
“Provision for warehousing and logistics including cold-storage and market auctioning for wholesale of agricultural produce, development of Economic Processing Zones (EPZ’s) in line with the Free Zones Act 2014 will be emphasized,” Kasaija said.
For tourism development Kasaija who was reading his maiden Budget, allocated UShs. 81.3 billion to up skills development to meet world class requirements for high standard of performance in the hospitality industry, completion of hotels and restaurants rating, development of strategic tourism infrastructure in partnership with the Private Sector and enactment and enforcement of sector regulation to ensure maintenance of sector standards at internationally acceptable levels.
The transport infrastructure received the biggest chunk of Kasaija’s cash, with an allocation of Ush3,328.79 billion to focus on improving the condition of the road network through tarmacking and maintenance of roads.
Railway Transport was also catered for with priority given to fast-tracking the ongoing process of developing the Standard Gauge Railway network throughout the country. Water and Air Transport will largely see the improvement of the inland water system through procurement of new ferry services.