Manufacturers given up to end of January to have digital stamps

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Manufacturers of different products have up to the end of January 2020 to clear stock of products without digital stamps. After that, all their products are expected to bear a stamp.

The first goods expected to have stamps are beer, wines, spirits, sodas, bottled water, and cigarettes.  It is intended to help Uganda Revenue Authority fill a tax loophole where some manufacturers have not been declaring the right quantities of their products in order to reduce their tax bill.

URA spokesperson Vincent Seruma told reporters in Kampala yesterday that the official implementation of the digital stamps initiative kicked off 1 November 2019.

The manufacturers have argued that stamps will increase their cost of production. They have also gone to court to stop the exercise but courts have not issued an injunction and the government says it will go ahead with the initiative.

James Odong, the URA manager for the digital stamps, said they have engaged manufacturers for more than a year and that it was time that the system started.

On Thursday, October 31, 2019, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda met UMA chairman Barbara Mulwana and URA officials They agreed on the three-months grace period.   On the cost, the government has offered to install the equipment and foot the cost of the stamps for the first year.

Also, the tax body says the manufacturers will be allowed to deduct any money spent on the digital stamp process as a cost when filing their returns.

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