Traders Agree With Government To Calloff Strike For Two Weeks

admin_spyreports

Apr 17, 2024 - 18:15

Traders Agree With Government To Calloff Strike For Two Weeks

Traders and the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development have resolved to have the trader's strike called off for two weeks to enable the government to conclude its internal consultations and further engagement with the leadership of the traders.

The document signed by Finance Minister Matia Kasaija indicates that the traders raised several issues such as: Requesting the Government to consider increasing the VAT threshold from shs150million to shs 1billion as a reduction of the VAT rate from 18% to 16%. On Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System(EFRIS), The traders expressed concern that the EFRIS presents several challenges like, it imposes a high cost of compliance where most traders do not understand the system.

Other issues are increased Import Duty on Fabrics and Garments, Nonstandardized valuation guidelines for goods, Anti-competition practices by manufacturers, and Loss of Uganda's competitiveness as a trade hub for the EAC region.

However, the Government agrees to study and consult on the proposals and communicate its position on the issues.

The government has also directed the Uganda Revenue Authority to immediately establish an office in Kikuubo in Kampala that is solely dedicated to providing EFRIS support services to all traders and other Taxpayers.

Traders yesterday 16th april 2024 began a sit-down strike protesting enforcement of the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solutions (EFRIS) system by URA

The Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System was rolled out by the Government on July 1, 2020 as a system for issuance of electronic invoices/ receipts in respect to business transactions for taxation purposes.

The Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) asked the tax collections body, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to sensitise traders on how the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS) works.

EFRIS was initiated to curb various challenges including unfair tax assessment, missing or improper business records, unfair business competition, invoice trading/ fictitious or fabricated invoices, lengthy tax audits, poor taxpayers’ record keeping and complex tax procedures such as tax return submissions among others.

However, traders in Kampala under their umbrella body, The Federation of Uganda Traders Association (FUTA) on 8th Monday april 2024morning staged a protest over the implementation of EFRIS.

Todate Traders describe EFRIS as double taxation, saying that they don’t understand the automated sale records and levy system.