KIRA: Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner General, Doris Akol is hopeful to win the hearts and minds of taxpayers. The new commissioner has made frequent visits to trading bodies, most recently to Kampala’s busiest trading hub, Kikuubo, in Kampala.
Some of the traders indeed expressed their dissatisfaction with URA’s e-tax system powered by Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA World). Akol admitted that the ASYCUDA network had issues but added that they were expanding capacity of their servers to manage the challenges.
Earlier, Akol and URA hosted six Ambassadors of the Netherlands to the various countries in the East African Region plus DR. Congo. They wanted to observe and get a report on the performance of key projects or reforms which their country through Trade Mark East Africa had supported. The projects in question include; ASYCUDA World worth $5.834mn, Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) worth $0.2mn and Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) worth $2 mn.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Alphons Hennekens, the Ambassador to Uganda, expressed satisfaction with the progress the revenue body had made in fostering regional integration. “We will continue to partner with you so that the East African Community becomes a reality,” he said.
Richard Kamajugo, the commissioner for Customs at URA, said the ASYCUDA World project, which was rolled out progressively between April, 2013 to December 2014, has seen 98% of total customs transactions and customs revenue collected. As a result, revenue collection has improved so far by 21%; from $427 mn in October, 2013 to $778 mn in December, 2014, Kamajugo said. The system has also improved clearance time to an average of 1.1 days compared to over five days before. Improved transparency of customs operations through status notifications during declaration processing, reduced queuing and movements to different customs offices are also some of the benefits. The system has also facilitated the interface with other revenue authorities in the region – Kenya Revenue Authority, Rwanda Revenue Authority, and Tanzania Revenue Authority with the result that the implementation of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) has been achieved thus reducing the number of multiple declarations to just two – at the point of entry in the EAC and at final destination.
