The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has in the first quarter of the Financial Year (FY) 2021/22 (July-September), collected a net revenue of UGX 4.44 trillion posting a growth of 9.57 percent in comparison to the FY 2020/21.
In nominal terms, this reflects a growth in revenue of UGX 389.47 billion, however it should be noted that the outturn of the first quarter is short of its target of UGX 4.95 trillion by UGX 499.49 billion.
Having achieved a growth in revenue of 14.99 percent in the FY 2020/21, URA is expected to collect UGX 22.4 trillion in the FY 2021/22 which is UGX 3.1 trillion over and above last year’s collections.
speaking to the media at the URA Headquarters in Nakawa, John Musinguzi, the Commissioner General URA, said the Domestic revenue collections during the first quarter of FY 2021/22 were UGX 2.65 trillion, registering a growth of 8.11 percent (UGX 199.10 billion) in comparison to same period in FY 2020/21.
Under the Domestic revenue collected, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) contributed UGX 766 billion, UGX 276.6 billion Value Added Tax (VAT) UGX 712.7 billion, Withholding Tax UGX 455.3 billion, Local Excise Duty (LED) UGX 366.2 billion, Corporate Tax UGX 78.5 billion, and Others, contributed a total of UGX 276.6 billion.
However, Musinguzi said that the collections were below the target of UGX 3.09 trillion billion by UGX 440.75 billion, he said this was largely caused by the pandemic effects on some local businesses.
Musinguzi said that the customs revenue collections were UGX 1,866.18 billion against a target of UGX 1,972.72 billion, registering a growth of 8.88 percent (UGX 152.14 billion) in comparison to FY 2020/21. However, the collections were UGX 106.54 billion below target.
Under the Customs Revenue Collected, VAT on Imports UGX 734.30 billion were collected, Petroleum Duty UGX 587.39 billion, Import Duty UGX 337.25 billion, and Others UGX 207.24 billion.
The URA Commissioner General noted that in terms of sectors, 74.02 percent of the revenue was generated from the top 5 sectors during the first quarter of FY 2021/22.
These included, wholesale and retail trade sector, which had the biggest contribution, amounting to UGX 1.36 trillion (30.10 percent), followed by the manufacturing sector a contribution of UGX 1.06 trillion (23.61percent), the financial activities contributed UGX 353.66 billion (7.82 percent), while UGX 338.36 billion (2.65 percent) was generated from the information and communication sector and UGX 202.98 billion (4.49 percent) from public administration.
However, Musinguzi, said there was a decline in revenue collected from some sectors in the first quarter of FY 2021/22, compared to same period in FY 2020/21 where Revenue from the Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air conditioning supply sector declined by 17.31%, the Construction sector declined by 15.95% and the Real estate sector declined by 4.67%.
He attributed the decline partly to the continued government restriction on some sectors which has affected the supply chains and hence disrupted the on-trade market like restaurants, hotels, events, institutions which has resulted into them operating below capacity.
Musinguzi said “This has consequently influenced Domestic Taxes performance as depicted in VAT underperformance with a deficit of UGX. 223.64 billion, Local Excise Duty deficit of UGX. 77.27 billion, corporate tax deficit of UGX. 24.74 billion and Rental income tax deficit of UGX. 19.49 billion.
On the other hand, Musinguzi noted that the international trade tax collections performance was mainly attributed to deficits registered by petroleum duty (UGX. 43.34 billion), import duty (UGX. 68.27 billion) and withholding taxes (UGX. 135.80 billion).
He attributed this to the decline in fuel volumes, decrease in tax yield, and Tax policy on the export of gold, where government imposed a levy of 5 percent on a kilogram of processed gold and 10 percent on the value of unprocessed minerals.
All this with standing, Musinguzi revealed that the trend analysis for the last five years, indicates continuous growth in the net revenue collections with the highest year to year growth observed in the FY 2018/19 (17.82%) and the lowest recorded in FY 2020/21 (1.62%) which is mainly accredited to the adverse impact of COVID-19, “there are signs of economic recovery as portrayed by a growth in revenue of 9.57%,” he said.
He said that the revenue target for the remaining period of the FY 2021/2022 (October 2021 to June 2022) is UGX. 17.40 trillion which is 77.82% of the annual target of UGX 22.36 trillion of which URA is targeting UGX. 6.10 trillion for quarter two.
