TJAU Convenes Consultative Meeting to Develop Alternative Tax Proposals for FY 2021/22

TJAU Convenes Consultative Meeting to Develop Alternative Tax Proposals for FY 2021/22:
On 24th and 25th August 2020, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under the Tax Justice Alliance Uganda (TJAU) held a consultative meeting to develop alternative Tax Proposals for FY 2021/22.

During the two days retreat, CSOs developed alternative revenue proposals to inform the Tax Bills for FY 2021/22. This was a consultative process by CSOs at sub national and national levels working on tax, budget, debt, agriculture, extractives, among others. The consultative meeting was held both physically and virtually where some Tax Justice Alliance members participated via Zoom.

Ms. Jane Nalunga, SEATINI Uganda Executive Director while giving her remarks stressed out the need to appreciate that tax is a tool to a defined destination. She added that there is need to agree as a country on the purpose of taxation and the challenges we want to address for example the rampant unemployment, women marginalization among others.

‘‘We must not forget the 4Rs of taxation; Representation, Redistribution, Repricing and Revenue as we propose alternatives. The ‘R’ of Representation is very key now that we are in the electoral period. We need to promote tax as a tool for representation,’’ she said.

Mr. Xavier Ejoyi, the Action Aid Uganda Country Director while giving his remarks, emphasized that as a country, we cannot underestimate the fact that the COVID 19 pandemic has influenced and affected fundamentally the economy, the politics and the most vulnerable populations especially women, informal sector, among others.

‘‘In the last few months, we have witnessed various government efforts in terms of borrowing from multilateral lending institutions such as World Bank, IMF among others inorder to revive the economy. We are yet to witness what the taxation patterns will be and how these loans will be paid back. We need a progressive and just tax system that generates enough revenues to finance the different sectors and development projects,’’ he added.

Ms. Jane Ocaya-Irama, the Country Director Oxfam in Uganda while giving her remarks reiterated the need to engage policy makers and the different stakeholders on how to bridge the fiscal deficit.

After the two days retreat, participants developed comprehensive alternative tax proposals for the FY 2021/22 that will later be presented to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development for consideration.