Civil society organizations in Uganda have renewed their fight against the proposal to exempt Members of Parliament from paying taxes on their allowances, reports the Daily Monitor.
The organizations rally behind President Museveni’s original stand against the move.
Taxation is the price that citizens pay for service delivery and development but the proposals by MPs to be exempted from paying taxes is unfavourable to the national budget which gets 68 percent of its resources from domestic taxes according to Mr Julius Mukunda, the coordinator civil society budget advocacy group
The 327 members of parliament will make a dent of approximately 14 million dollars in the country’s budget if the bill with the proposal to remove the taxes is passed.
“It sets a wrong precedent for other civil servants whose allowances are taxed. The private sector and other Ugandans will try all means possible not to pay tax” said Mr. Mukunda
Uganda’s commercial court ordered the MPs to pay their taxes from 2014 in February 2015 after a concerned citizen filed a petition questioning the rationale of politicians not paying tax. MPs have appealed the ruling and the case is yet to be heard.
President Yoweri Museveni sent back the Bill last year after the 9th Parliament came to an end warning that the MPs have no moral right to be exempted from tax and doing so “would send a dangerous message” to the rest of the country according to the Daily Monitor.
Ugandan MPs passed the bill again last week , arguing that they are paying hefty taxes on their salaries and allowances. The bill is awaiting President Museveni’s endorsement.
