The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is currently hosting a six-member delegation from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria. The delegation is on a five-day benchmarking exercise on compliance risk management.
During the visit, the delegation will focus on URA’s domestic and customs processes. Their main objective is to understand compliance risk management within a tax authority, as described in the TADAT model.
Ibrahim Bbossa, the Assistant Commissioner for Public and Corporate Affairs at URA, shared with the team about URA’s compliance improvement measures, like the Taxpayer Registration Expansion Program (TREP) and working with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) to register businesses.
“The aim is to push for business formalization and ensure the growth of the taxpayer register,” he said.
He explained that during onboarding, taxpayers are taught the basics of taxation.
“URA has come up with different systems and processes that are simplified, like TIN registration, which has instant TIN, the USSD code, EFRIS, DTS, and a website with web-based forms. All these are aimed at making it easy for taxpayers to pay their taxes,” Bbossa added.
Angel Fadahunsi, the Director of Risk Management at FIRS, explained the essence of the visit, saying they are in the process of establishing a risk management department.
He added that they have been benchmarking on sister organizations in Nigeria, and URA is the first organization they have benchmarked on outside their home country. He added that benchmarking on URA had come as a recommendation from the International Monetary Fund.
“We hope to apply the knowledge we acquire from URA to build our risk management department,” Fadahunsi noted.
The delegation is expected to conclude its visit on Friday.
Key takeaways from the visit:
- URA has a number of measures in place to improve compliance, including the TREP and working with URSB.
- URA has simplified a number of its processes, including TIN registration and tax payment.
- FIRS is in the process of establishing a risk management department and is benchmarking URA for best practices.
What this means for taxpayers:
- URA’s compliance improvement measures should make it easier for taxpayers to comply with their tax obligations.
- URA’s simplified processes should make it easier for taxpayers to pay their taxes.
- FIRS’s benchmarking of URA should lead to improved risk management practices, which should benefit taxpayers in the long run.