Local companies seeking to win contracts from local government and other institutions such as schools and hospitals have been accused of forging tax certificates in a bid to enhance their chances.
Johnson Emojong, the Uganda Revenue Authority supervisor in Gulu, says that they have received reports that many local firms have presented forged certificates as proof that they have met their tax obligations. The certificates are mandatory for a firm to be awarded business contract.
He said such tax avoidance is interfering with the general tax collections in the region. He explained that as a result, the burden was being borne by other businesses and individuals who pay their taxes. He said government always projects to collect a specific amount of money in tax, an amount that can be affected by the number of such tax evasions.
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Emojong has warned withholding tax agents such as local governments, tertiary institutions and hospitals to desist from awarding contracts to companies that do not present genuine tax certificates. He said the revenue collection authority has already asked the Inspectorate of Government and other relevant organs to investigate the cases.
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Emojong advised the contract awarding authorities to always keenly scrutinize the tax certificates to ensure they have URA seals among other features.
It’s not clear how widespread the practice of forging tax certificate is. Abdallah Kiganda, Gulu Chief Administrative Officer says he has not yet come across such reports of forgery of tax certificates but Emojong insists that even a single case of forgery is bad enough because it leads to loss of revenue.
