Hon. Justice Dr. Bamwine officiating at the opening of the Taxation Training
KAMPALA: With just two judges, a single division of the High Court collected about Shs20 billion in form of non-tax revenue for the country in one year, the Principal Judge has revealed.
Hon. Justice Dr. Yorokamu Bamwine made the revelation while officiating at the opening of a Taxation Training for Judges and members of the Tax Appeals Tribunal on February 21 at the Lake Victoria Serena Hotel in Kigo. He said the Anti-Corruption Court raised revenues of Shs 885,320,228 in 2018 through fines, and Shs 19,043,989,691 through asset recovery orders.
"In terms of revenue collection through Judiciary, this is unprecedented," said Hon. Justice Dr Bamwine, adding, "The Judiciary can be a strategic mobilize of resources.Imagine if you (the government) gave us three more Judges in the Anti-Corruption Court alone? Just give us more judges and improve their welfare and then wait for the results."
"There must be a deliberate effort on the part of the Executive and the Legislature to ensure that their colleague, the Judiciary, is not left out in the planning process in as far as domestic resource mobilization is concerned. Revenue begets more revenue."
The two-day Taxation Training for Judicial Officers taking place at Lake Victoria Serena at Kigo,under theme: "Domestic Resource Mobilization: Opportunities and Challenges for Uganda", is organized by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) jointly with the Judicial Training Institute (JTI). It is the ninth activity supported by the URA, following previous successfully organized training activities for judicial officers since 2010.
The trainings are intended to equip the judicial officers with information and knowledge of Uganda's tax system, especially the emerging trends in tax law, tax policy and administration, the oil and gas value chain, electronic transactions, financial crime and evidence, among others.
The URA Commissioner General, Ms. Doris Akol, said the tax body enjoys its strategic relationship with the Judiciary for it provides the platform to share information and experiences.
"We are thrilled to organize and co-ordinate this event on a yearly basis, which is meant to ensure that the Bench is kept abreast of the developments in the tax sphere," she said.
"This conference also gives us a unique opportunity to obtain invaluable feedback from you,distinguished guests, as our key stakeholders, which is instrumental in enabling us forge a way forward and improve our service delivery to the country."
JTI's Executive Director,Hon. Justice Dr Henry Peter Adonyo, said the Judiciary takes keen interest in collaborations for trainings with institutions such as URA because they give judicial officers an opportunity to attain knowledge that is not taught in Law School.
The activity has attracted at least eight Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal; 20 High Court Judges from the Commercial, Civil, Anti-Corruption and Executions and Bailiffs Divisions; as well as the High Court Circuits of Kabale, Mbale,Mbarara and Arua.
Other participants were drawn from the Tax Appeals Tribunal, URA, Uganda Law Society, Kampala City Traders Association, Uganda Manufacturers Association, Uganda Bankers Association, Uganda National Bureau of Standards, Interpol, Civil Society and Private Sector Foundation.
Areas of focus:
- Fiscal Policy -the use of government revenue collections and expenditure to influence the Economy.
- Tax Policy and Tax Administration, the roles of Ministry of Finance Vis-a-vis URA
- Customs processes,Smuggling and Enforcement measures.
- How URA interacts with Financial Intelligence Authority and the issues relating to financial crimes.
- Missing Trader and Invoice trading, VAT fraud and its impact on revenue collection
- Illicit Financial Flows
- Classification and Rules of valuation for imported goods
- Cross border crimes and Tax offences
- Tax avoidance and Tax evasion
Posted 27th, February 2019
