All payments to government ministries are now being channelled through the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) in efforts to cut public sector corruption and increase tax collections.
Finance minister Maria Kiwanuka
Payments of Police fines, court fines, passport fees and other non-tax payments to the Government will now be done through the commercial banks after filing an online tax return.
The system also recognises payments by electronic banking, mobile money, telegraphic transfer and other electronic forms of money transfer.
Accounting officers in government agencies will be notified of payments for services electronically through a URA system within 5 minutes after banks receive payments.
Henry Saka, the URA commissioner domestic taxes noted that going online makes it easy to pay taxes and that the system will increase non tax revenue collections.
“We are now collecting up to 99% of all tax revenues electronically. This method has reduced reconciliation time to two days from three months. The error rate is a dismal 0.01%,” he said at a sensitisation workshop for accounting officers at Serena Hotel Kampala.
All government ministry payment slips have been loaded into the system.
Details of each agency Tax Identification Number have also been loaded into system to enable the URA to centrally monitor receipts.
Maria Kiwanuka, the finance minister ordered for the new changes after a successful test of the system on the immigration department in the internal affairs ministry.
Simon Ngabirano, a URA service support officer said that non tax revenue collections from the department grew by over 300% during the pilot showing that many payments to government agencies were not being remitted.
Government agencies will not be able to spend at source anymore as all payments will be channelled by the URA collections to Bank of Uganda’s consolidated fund.
Hitherto, all government agencies maintained separate accounts and all payments where paid onto these accounts. Ministries would then use the money to pay suppliers and for utilities.
Ministries that need money to spend on utilities, projects, wages, stationery and other essentials will have to fill in invoices and have the precise amount wired back to them from the finance ministry.
Non tax revenues have gradually grown to sh130b in the financial year 2012/13 from sh124b four years ago.
Government intends to collect at least sh274b in non-tax revenues this year.
By Samuel Sanya,The New Vision
