The government has signed an agreement with an American company RIPPLENAMI INC to provide a solution to improve rental income tax compliance for Uganda.
According to a press statement by the Finance Ministry, the solution will integrate data from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to enable proper identification of individuals and corporations to determine rental income prior to standard deductions.
Ms Betty Kasimbazi, the Under-Secretary/Accounting Officer at the Ministry of Finance signed on behalf of government while Faruk Awadh, the Director for Operations Africa, signed on behalf of RIPPLENAMI INC.
RIPPLENAMI INC will develop a rental tax compliance system that will integrate data between the various government agencies to enable proper identification of individuals, and companies that own rentable property and possible rental income tax payable.
RIPPLENAMI INC will identify properties and assign them geo-addresses in accordance with internationally accepted standards, link the identified properties to their owners or persons who earn income from those properties.
The system will then cross-match the identified properties and their ownership with the URA TIN database.
Mr Jon Musinguzi Rujoki, the URA Commissioner General, said URA will work closely with the Ministry of Lands, NIRA, URSB, KCCA and utility companies to provide the necessary data which will be incorporated with the RippleNami technology.
Finance Minister Matia Kasaija urged citizens to embrace the paying of taxes, saying that is what responsible citizenship calls for.
“Paying taxes is a noble job and it is biblical. I know many people don’t like to pay taxes but it’s a noble action that all citizens should undertake with open hands,” Mr Kasaija said.
