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Luweero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Luweero district has projected a revenue shortfall of 300 million Shillings, as part of its estimates for this financial year. The district had planned to collect over one billion Shillings in local revenue in the financial year 2019/2020.
However, the district has realized only 562 million Shillings, with just a month to end of the financial year. Luweero District Secretary for Finance Hussein Kato attributed the low collections to the COVID-19 lockdown which left major sources of the revenue closed for over two months.
The major sources of local revenue for the district include business licenses, agency fees, inspection fees, park fees, market levies, education institution levies, local hotel taxes, liquor licenses, forestry produce levies, animal and crop husbandry related levies, among others.
Kato explains that although President Yoweri Museveni is slowly easing the lockdown, the district doesn’t expect to collect over 300 million Shillings in the remaining weeks. He adds that several traders and service providers have incurred immense losses during the lockdown making it hard for them to pay taxes.
He, however, noted that they hope to collect at least 130 million Shillings before the end of the financial year if all businesses are reopened.
James Ssekatawa, the Treasurer of Kamukamu General Traders Limited, a company contracted by Luweero district to collect taxes from forestry produce at Luweero town says that the COVID-19 pandemic has equally affected the collectors.
Ssekatawa explains that he signed a contract with the district to collect and deposit an undisclosed amount of money every month, a target he can’t meet due to the COVID-19 lockdown. He adds that he used to collect taxes from at least 16 trucks carrying either charcoal, firewood or logs but these dropped to less than seven per day.
Ssekatawa says that as a result, they have written to Luweero District as tax collectors asking for dialogue on the obligations because they can’t meet the target because of the impact of COVID-19. The company was also forced to send some tax collectors on leave and reduced on allowances on enforcement officers till all businesses re-opens.
Samuel Musoke, a charcoal dealer says that he couldn’t pay taxes, because he had also scaled down after his clients in Kampala, were ordered to stay home over the COVID-19 lockdown.
Luweero District Chairman Ronald Ndawula says that because of the revenue losses, several planned activities like monitoring, capacity building and construction of district headquarters among others will not be implemented. Ndawula added that they also experienced other budget cuts from Uganda Road Fund making it more difficult to carry out routine maintenance on roads in the fourth quarter.
The District expected to receive 54.9 billion Shillings of which Central Government transfers were 98.5 per cent, while 1.5 per cent from locally raised revenue and external financing.
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