Museveni tells URA to get tough on telecoms that under declare revenue

President Museveni has retaliated the need to track telecoms that under declare calls with the intention of evading taxes.

This, according to President Museveni is one of the 10 areas that Uganda Revenue Authority needs to improve, if they are to meet the set target of collecting Shs 16 trillion this financial year.

The president was speaking during the closure of the four-day conference on the role of science in enhancing revenue collection at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

"As a country we are losing lots of money as the tax body tends to depend on the telecom companies asking them how many calls were made in a year only for them to under declare," Museveni said.

He has asked the tax body to install big scanners at every entrance into the country, at the airport, borders, landing sites, which must be connected to the central system.

"There is no way you guys cannot monitor these trailers with your naked eye. Fine, you have been using weigh bridges but these can’t show the items in trucks whether it is stones or metals," he said.

Museveni also called for the close supervision of money transfers saying a lot of money is exchanging hands through mobile money.

Once these measures are put in place, the president believes Uganda will raise enough revenues to finance its budget 100 percent other than begging from the West.

He said: "African countries still suffer at the hands of the western world who wait for us to go and beg them because we can’t fully finance our budget. But if we can collect our revenues fully, borrowing would become history."

Tax evasion and under declaration of revenue remain some of the hurdles failing Uganda Revenue Authority from realising their set targets every financial Year.

The situation worsens for the tax body when it comes to payment of rental taxes.

Land lords under declare what tenants are paying and they issue them with receipts that don’t show the amount.

"When we try to talk to the tenants they also refer us to the property owners," said Patrick Mukiibi, the acting commissioner general, URA.