Butambala Member of Parliament Muwanga Kivumbi has noted that the government could be losing well up to Shs8 trillion in tax exemptions, which he said makes no sense in light of budgeting constraints occasioned by pressures on the national resource envelope.
The shadow minister listed some entities against the proposed exemptions they are to get, which totaled to Shs588 billion, a figure he said should be collected to finance the budget.
“If we can recover only Shs4 trillion from the tax exemptions, we can balance our budget and implement it; it is about time we launched an inquiry into tax exemptions in Uganda,” said MP Muwanga Kivumbi.
In response, Deputy Speaker Tayebwa said since there is a committee established by parliament to look into the tax exemptions for Bujagali Hydropower Project, the same committee can look into all exemptions.
“We have a committee to look into the tax exemptions of Bujagali; we should not go into the budget cycle without the report; if you have done a good job, we shall give you the other entities to also look at expeditiously in two weeks,” said Tayebwa.