Mbale city closes over 200 business premises over tax evasion

Mbale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Mbale city authorities have closed over 200 business premises over tax evasion. The affected businesses were closed in an operation in Nkoma and Namakweke in the Northern Mbale City Division on Monday.

According to the Northern City Mbale Division Town Clerk Martin Busiku, most of the affected business people have refused to pay ground and property rates since the first lockdown in 2021. He says that the majority of the affected claim that they were affected by lockdown.

Busiku says that they demand over Shillings 1 billion from businesses and plan to recover the money. Samuel Wetaka and James Samali, some of the affected businesspeople in Nkoma ward say that delay to pay the taxes is not their own making but they were seriously affected by the lockdown.

They claim that their business premises were locked for almost five months, arguing that it’s unfair that the city council forces them to pay even when they were not working.

*****

URN