URA registers revenue shortfall of Shs 1 trillion in nine months

With only a few months remaining until the end of this financial year, the Uganda Revenue Authority(URA) has expressed optimism to meet its annual revenue collection target of Shs 22.4 trillion despite registering a shortfall of Shs I trillion in the last nine months.

Addressing the media at the URA headquarters in Kampala on Tuesday, URA Commissioner General, John Musinguzi, said in the first nine months of the FY 2020/21, URA had a target of collecting Shs 16.5 trillion representing 73.93% of the annual target of Shs 22.4 trillion.

"During the period July to March, the actual net revenue collections were Shs 15,466.68 billion representing 69.16% of the annual target. However, the outturn for the period was short of the target by Shs 1,065.75 billion," he said.

He said a significant growth in revenue of Shs 1.4 trillion (10.66%) was registered in July to March FY 2021/22 compared to the same period in the FY 2020/21.

Musinguzi noted the domestic revenue collections in the first nine months of the FY 2021/22 were Shs 9 trillion against a target of Shs 10 trillion, registering a growth of Shs 816 billion (9.42%) as compared to the same period in FY 2020/21.

However, he said the collections were below the target by shs1.2 trillion.

"The direct domestic tax collections were shs4,907.64 billion, posting a performance of 94.17%. The direct tax collections for the period grew by shs273.94 billion (5.91%), compared to the same period in the FY 2020/21," he said.

According to Musinguzi, major surpluses were registered in PAYE, casino tax and tax on bank interest.

He said shortfalls were mainly incurred in corporate tax, withholding, rental tax, and treasury bills majorly due to Covid-19 restrictions that led to supply chain disruptions, low aggregate demand in the economy and thus reduced profitability.

Musinguzi said the majority of the sectors recorded positive growth throughout the nine months, however, significant declines in revenue were registered in some sectors.

"Revenue from electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply declined by 25.77%; Construction declined by 10.32%, while a decline of 3.20% was registered under Real estate activities. The decline is attributed to slow recovery of businesses from Covid-19," he said.