The Constitutional Court has held that the order by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) requiring banks to disclose balances of account holders is unconstitutional.
In the letter dated March, 16, 2018, URA sought to obtain detailed information on account holders from January 2016 to December 2017.
The tax body also requested the banks to furnish them with among others; Telephone numbers of clients, email addresses, Tax identification Numbers (TIN), National Identification Numbers (NIN) and physical addresses.
Also required from the banks are the total cash deposits by each client, total cash withdrawals for the said period as well as the standing balance at the time of filing the content to URA.
However, this move violated confidentiality agreements between banks and their respective clients
In light of the resolution of issues, the Constitutional Court declared that the notice impairs the right to privacy of bank account holders.
“We declare that the notice impairs right to privacy of all bank account holders of Uganda enshrined in article 27 (1) of the constitution in a matter that far exceeds what is necessary to accomplish the objective of tax collection and accordingly beyond what is acceptable and demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society,” Court ruled.
“Further, the petition concerns issues of public interest, the actions of the second respondent subjected the petitioners to unnecessary costs and inconveniences. In the premises, the petition should follow the event and I would make an order only. As far as the first respondent is concerned, it was directly involved in the matter and I would make an order that the first respondent shall bear its own costs,” Court added.
