By Suzan Kabarwani
Uganda Revenue Authority has announced its intention to raise the taxes of second hand clothes ,locally known as ‘Mivumba’.URA’s decision stems from its cumulative deficit amounting to shs175 billion in the month of January.
Addressing the media on January 23, 2013 at the URA Head office in Nakawa, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of corporate affairs Sarah Birungi Banage said net revenue performance in Uganda suffered a deficit of Ushs 175 billion to register Ushs3.3 trillion in revenue collections against a projected target of Ushs 3.5 trillion.
As one of the measures to raise more revenue ,URA says it will raise the taxes of imported second hand clothes .
However the idea has not been welcome to the business community.Mr Kassim Omar, the chairman of the Uganda Clearing and Forwarding Association (UCIFA) on Tuesday was quick to ask the authority to revise it decision arguing that it will impact negatively on final consumers.
Mr Everest Kayondo also says that the Ministry of Trade and Industry should see that the decision is revised because it is going to affect the retail prices greatly.
Deficits in revenue were attributed to a fall in corporation tax by Ushs 13.5 billion, PAYE dropped by Ushs 31.02 billion and a drop on beer VAT which recorded a Ushs 6.46 billion shortfall while excise duty on the same experienced a Ushs 5.81 billion shortfall due to a drop in beer sales.
