(KAMPALA) – Uganda has approved the use of the National Identification Number as the default Tax Identification Number for all citizens. The change ends the separate tax registration process and aims to improve data accuracy, raise compliance and reduce tax evasion that has held back domestic revenue collection.
The Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Justine Kasule Lumumba, announced the decision on Tuesday at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala. She said Cabinet had directed that the National Identification Number issued by the National Identification and Registration Authority will now serve as the Tax Identification Number.
“For years, our tax registration system has relied on a separate, largely manual TIN based process. It has served its purpose, but it has also left us with outdated and inconsistent records, and that creates real weaknesses in data accuracy, compliance, and service delivery,” Lumumba said.
Uganda has a narrow tax base and a tax to GDP ratio of about 13 to 14%, below the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. The Uganda Revenue Authority faces a large informal economy, data mismatches across state agencies and widespread noncompliance.
The existence of two separate identity frameworks under the National Identification and Registration Authority and the Uganda Revenue Authority made it easier for informal earnings and asset transactions to escape taxation.
Lumumba said the adoption of the National Identification Number as the Tax Identification Number creates one consistent identity for every taxpayer. She said it will improve the taxpayer register and strengthen the ability of authorities to identify and trace taxpayers.
“It will help us improve compliance, reduce revenue leakage, and make it simpler for citizens to register and communicate with the tax authorities. It will also give us visibility into worldwide income, and more broadly, it strengthens our national identification system as a whole,” Lumumba said.
Lumumba said the government was building a single, reliable foundation of identity that helps public institutions work better together. She described the change as a critical reform for modernising public administration and revenue processing.
Authorities have not announced any new tax rates or penalties.
