The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) faces a steep challenge in meeting a revenue collection target of Shs36.7 trillion for the financial year ending June 2026—a 17% increase from the Shs31.3 trillion collected in the previous financial year.
This ambitious target represents an additional Shs5.3 trillion in real value, roughly equivalent to a full year’s worth of customs collections. To meet this goal, URA is intensifying efforts to close revenue leakages and broaden the tax base by leveraging digital technologies and enhanced compliance mechanisms.
URA’s Strategic Shift
According to URA Commissioner General John Rujoki Musinguzi, achieving the target is possible through improved tax administration and compliance powered by digital innovations and data-driven enforcement.
Speaking during the release of the FY 2024/25 revenue performance report, Rujoki highlighted the critical role digital tools have played in recent tax gains. URA collected an additional Shs100 billion in the year under review, which he attributed in part to digital initiatives.
Key among these tools are digital tax stamps and the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS), which have been central in sealing leakages in excise duty and VAT collections. URA plans to deepen the use of these systems, alongside advanced technologies like data analytics, artificial intelligence, and risk-based assessments, to identify potential taxpayers and areas of non-compliance.
“This marks a shift from reactive to predictive tax administration,” Rujoki said, underscoring the agency’s move toward smarter and more proactive enforcement.
Impact of Digital Tax Stamps
Digital tax stamps have significantly improved tax compliance in high-risk sectors such as alcoholic beverages, including spirits and kombuchas. Previously, these areas were dominated by non-compliant traders involved in the illicit alcohol market. URA credits the stamps with helping to remove such operators from the market, thus protecting legitimate taxpayers.
President Yoweri Museveni also acknowledged the role of digital systems, noting last month that government non-compliance has declined due to initiatives like digital tax stamps and EFRIS. However, he emphasized that current revenue levels are still insufficient to meet the country’s development needs.
To address this, the government plans to scale up anti-corruption efforts through frequent audits of URA operations and expanded use of digital tools for real-time monitoring of taxable transactions.
Strengthening Excise Tax Collection
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) closed the 2024/25 financial year with an impressive revenue performance.
It was a rare performance in a year of growing challenges, but one marked by aggressive enforcement and increased use of technology and digital systems to enhance compliance.
URA data indicates that in the 12 months to June 2025, revenue collections surpassed targets by Shs262.43b, which represented a 15.86 percent revenue growth.
According to the annual revenue performance brief, URA collected Shs31.63 trillion against a target of Shs31.37 trillion, achieving a performance rate of over 100.84 percent.
But the performance notwithstanding, URA will have to comb more corners to meet new targets for the 2025/26 financial year.
The Domestic Revenue Mobilisation Strategy has identified excise taxes as a high-potential area. Until recently, the government lacked reliable mechanisms to verify the sales figures reported by firms. This changed with the rollout of the digital tax stamps system in FY 2019/20.
Managed by SICPA Uganda, under the aegis of URA, the system affixes tamper-proof digital stamps on excisable goods at the production line. These are tracked in real time, greatly reducing tax evasion and underreporting.
Digital tax stamps have also strengthened URA’s ability to combat illicit trade and gather forensic evidence in tax fraud investigations, thereby enhancing transparency across the manufacturing and import sectors.
