The government has allocated Shs877.396 billion to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) for the 2026/2027 financial year, as part of efforts to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation and prepare for increased economic activity driven by the oil and gas sector.
The Minister of State for Finance (General Duties), Henry Musasizi, presented the Ministerial Policy Statement to Parliament’s Finance Committee yesterday, outlining the strategic priorities that will guide the authority’s operations.
“The allocation is structured to sustain revenue mobilization efforts, strengthen compliance and administrative efficiency, and support strategic investments necessary to harness emerging opportunities, including those associated with increased economic activity and the onset of oil and gas production,” Musasizi said.
The allocation comes against the backdrop of mixed performance in revenue collection, with URA registering both strong gains and notable shortfalls in recent financial periods.
In the 2024/2025 financial year, URA slightly exceeded its annual target, collecting about Shs31.6 trillion against a target of approximately Shs31.37 trillion, reflecting improved compliance and administrative efficiency.
However, the current 2025/2026 financial year has presented challenges. URA set an ambitious target of about Shs36.7 trillion but has experienced shortfalls during the course of the year.
By the first half of the financial year, the authority had collected about Shs16.8 trillion, representing roughly 93.7 percent of its target and leaving a shortfall of over Shs1 trillion.
Similarly, earlier figures indicate that between July and December 2025, URA collected about Shs16.47 trillion against a target of Shs17.5 trillion, partly affected by slowed economic activity during the election period.
Despite these gaps, Musasizi said URA is implementing several interventions to improve performance and widen the tax base.
“URA is carrying out various interventions to address the challenges of revenue mobilization,” he said.
He added that the authority is increasingly leveraging digital systems to enhance efficiency and transparency in tax administration.
“URA has increased the use of technology to bring more transparency, efficiency and simplification of processes for taxpayers,” he added.
Musasizi was accompanied by a URA technical team during the presentation, as Parliament begins scrutiny of the proposed budget.
The meeting was also attended by the Minister of State for Planning, Amos Lugoloobi, who later presented the Ministerial Policy Statement for the National Planning Authority to the same committee.
URA has now set an even more ambitious revenue target of over Shs41.5 trillion for the 2026/2027 financial year, as the government targets to finance its budget internally and reduce reliance on borrowing.
The authority’s performance will be critical as Uganda moves closer to oil production, with expectations that increased economic activity will expand the tax base and boost domestic revenue collections.
