The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda Revenue Authority-URA has banned all forms of informal cross-border trade at the Uganda-Tanzania border point of Mutukula.
A number of people operating as informal traders have been bringing in small quantities of goods each time they cross from Tanzania through Mutukula border without going through the customs clearing points to pay import duty.
Some of the goods include among others; rice, soap, soft drinks like sodas and energy drinks that are usually acquired at cheaper prices in Tanzania.
However, URA demands that all traders should now go through the customs clearing points where they are supposed pay a reasonable tax.
Milton Rwahuha, the Uganda-Tanzania Customs Border Manager declared the ban during a meeting with traders held at Mutukula One Stop Border Post.
Rwahuha says that although their teams have not quantified the real value of the tax losses incurred in informal trade, their assessment has established that substantial quantities of goods are brought in by people disguising as informal traders purchasing goods for their own consumption.
However, traders at the Mutukula have challenged URA to first address the problem of tax variations which they say has greatly affected their businesses.
David Mujaasi and Juniper Nassiwa some of the traders at Mutukula have blamed URA of not being consistent in their tax assessments which has caused them losses despite meeting the tax obligations.
They argue that the traders have often resorted to informal trade to cover-up the losses incurred in tax variation.
Boaz Musinguzi, a border customs supervisor, however, indicated that some of these variations are caused by fluctuations in exchange rates of the local currency into dollars.
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