The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner General Doris Akol, has urged the business community to use receipts or invoices in their transactions, saying that those who fail to adhere to the guideline will be punished or prosecuted in courts of law.
“Any person who fails to issue a receipt/invoice that meets the minimum set standard may face penalties…or prosecution as provided for under the law,” Akol warns the public.
She says that goods transported on road without proper documentation (receipt, invoice and import documents) will be considered not to have paid taxes and will be seized, ‘in accordance with Section 35 of the Tax Procedure Code 2014’.
According to Akol, a receipt/ invoice is a document issued by a seller to a buyer as evidence of a business transaction. “Generally, a proper receipt/invoice should be duplicate, with original kept with the buyer and the duplicate copy by the seller,” she says.
In a public notice released Tuesday, Akol reminds the business community and the general public that Section 15 (1) of the Tax Procedure Code (TPC) requires every taxpayer to maintain records for a period of five years to enable his/her liability to be readily ascertained.
However, according to Akol, Section 22(2) (m) as amended, prohibits deductions on expenditure above Shs5m in one single transaction on goods and services from a supplier who does not have a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).
She says a proper receipt has nine features that include; words ‘receipt’ or ‘invoice’, name, address and TIN of seller, business name and address of recipient, serial number of the invoice, the volume of goods or services supplied, the selling price per unit and total value among others.
The Commissioner General highlights some of the benefits of issuance of receipts/invoices as fair competition, reduced cost of compliance, better services, improved planning, control and decision making for taxpayers and access to business opportunities.
Analysts say URA’s warning on receipts/invoices is one way of ensuring that taxpayers meet their obligations instead of trying to evade taxes. In the financial year 2017/18 URA is expected to collect taxes worth over Shs15 trillion and so far officials at the Authority say just about 40 percent has been collected, almost three months to the end of the financial year.
