Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) party President Jimmy Akena has urged the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to revise on the EFRIS issue which lured traders to close their shops in protest across the country.
“URA must go slow while implementing the EFRIS program. The focus and emphasis should be put on educating and engaging the business community about such policies on a regular basis, ” Akena said.
“UPC believes that involving stakeholders in formulating policies is key and educating them about the same is very paramount! All along, Uganda has been registering industrial unrest especially in the health and education sectors.”stressed.
Currently, the traders are protesting the system which they say they are not yet familiar with and the high taxes imposed on them thus describing it as a stumbling block to their businesses.
EFRIS in full is Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution. It entails the use of Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs), e-Invoicing, or direct communication with business transaction systems to manage the issuance of e-receipts and e-invoices in accordance with the Tax Procedures Code Act 2014.
Once a transaction is initiated using any of the solution’s components, transaction details are transmitted to URA in real time to generate e-receipts and e-invoices.
Section 73A of the Tax Procedures code 2014, provides the legal framework for implementing EFRIS. The provision provides for the commissioner to specify by a notice in the Gazette, taxpayers for whom it shall be mandatory to use EFRIS under the various business models i.e. Business to Business (B2B), Business to Government (B2G), and Business to Consumer (B2C) in Uganda to issue e-receipts or e-invoices.
He blamed trade ministry for failing to organise proper training for businesses community on EFRIS to avoid the current stand off.
“It is the trade industry having concerns with the implementation of the new Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS) initiative by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) under the Domestic Revenue Mobilization Program whose aim is to record business transactions and share the information with URA in real time which has increased tension between the traders and URA leading to business closure in Kampala and other parts of the country at a time when businesses are just recovering from the consequences of Covid-19 lockdown. This does not only affect internal business transactions and collection of government revenue, but also put regional trade at stake” Akena stated,”Akena said.
He insists that government policies should be fair to the citizens and there must be equitable access to opportunities and services.
In 2018, UPC opposed the infamous Over-The-Top (OTT) tax on data as it was very unfair to the taxpayer and a hindrance to the growth of the digital economy in Uganda, which was later abandoned by the government.
“Our view was and still is the same on the mobile money tax! Much as the Government is trying to enhance the tax revenue, it is a bad idea to over stretch the taxpayer,” Akena explained.
Akena further said UPC has been keenly following concerns and discrepancies in the issue of tax waivers, which has highly favored foreign investors at the expense of the local traders.
“Much as we need to influence foreign investment as a country, we should not allow sacrificing our local companies. This may undermine our efforts to Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU). UPC therefore demands for fairness and equity in the implementation of such policies (tax waivers) without discrimination to reduce the impasse in the trade sector” Akena stated.
Akena attributes all these to the National Budget of Uganda as it continues to increase year-in-year-out in the wake of the struggling economy thus forcing the Government to initiate new tax policies and programs to collect the targeted UGX. 31.574 trillion Taxes in the FY 2024/25 with the taxpayer hoping for good service delivery return, which of late, is a tall order especially in health, education and social welfare programs hence escalating tension.
Akena maintains that Uganda taxpayers are still very small compared to the population of the country and therefore they should be treated properly as they are the backbone of the country’s economy and he urged the government to cut on the expenditure as most of the expenditure is not beneficial to the people of Uganda but it is costly.
