Uganda Revenue Authority-URA is expected to increase its collections by four trillion Shillings to 29.7 trillion Shillings in domestic revenues for the financial year 2023/24, compared to the projections for this financial year. The Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economics Development, Matia Kasaija, says that he expects the economy to do better with an improvement in private sector activities.
Speaking at the National Budget Conference, to start off the budgeting process for the next financial year, Kasaija rei-terated that this year’s performance has been affected by shocks they had not foreseen, especially the sharp rise in global inflation that has affected local commodity prices. He however assures the public, that the Resource Envelope next financial year will not have significant changes from that of the current year, with the expectation of no new taxes.
In the financial year ending June 2022, URA collected 21.6 trillion Shillings out of the targeted 22.3 trillion Shillings. More than half of the 704 billion Shilling shortfall was attributed to government tax arrears.
Julius Mukunda, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group hailed the government's decision not to introduce new taxes this current year, adding that the suspension should continue for at least three years. According to Mukunda, this will give the private sector and households more incentives to recover from the effects of the economic shocks.
On top of human capital, Kasaija named Social protection, agricultural productivity, and transport infrastructure with a focus on maintenance and promotion of trade and exports as the areas of focus next year.