Officials of the Malawian tax body (MRA) in the Country to benchmark with Uganda’s tax body on tax Management.
KAMPALA-UGANDA: A delegation from the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) is in Uganda to benchmark with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Block Management System (BMS) for tax administration.
Uganda’s tax body has used the Block Management System (BMS) to divide the central parts of Kampala into logical geographical blocks.
The Uganda Revenue Authority assigned a team of tax officers to systematically manage the tax compliance of each taxpayer within their block on a day-to-day basis.
Christine Mirembe, the Ag. Assistant Commissioner of Compliance Management explained that the blocks are small and enable tax officers to undertake door-to-door visits to all businesses.
“This was intended to reorganize the way our staff resources are deployed, increase their efficiency, identify both potential and value taxpayers in the informal sector, provide better service, and bridge the gap between the taxpayer and URA to ease their compliance,” said Christine Mirembe.
She added that the BMS has other advantages including the understanding taxpayer businesses and tailoring solutions that are better matched to meet their needs; widening the taxpayer register under each block; establishing a normal flow register; strengthening CRM relationships with taxpayers; providing solutions to compliance challenges; enforcing the arrears portfolio of the taxpayers in the block; ledger reconciliation; and performance management.
Speaking to the team, the URA Assistant Commissioner of Public and Corporate Affairs Ibrahim Kibuuka Bbossa introduced the Malawians to URA’s innovations that are eliminating revenue leakages while creating a favorable business environment.
Ibrahim highlighted a number of Uganda Revenue Authority innovations that have been made including the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS), The Digital Tracking Solution (DTS), and the Bonded Warehouse Information System (BWIMS), among others.
The Supervisor of PR and Communications at the URA Solomon Kimbugwe tipped the team on some of the tools URA employs to improve taxpayer trust and build a positive reputation.
He explained that URA also employs language customization for effective communication with the diverse population of Uganda, as different ethnic groups may have varying linguistic preferences.
“By embracing language customization, PR professionals can build trust, credibility, and engagement within Uganda’s diverse cultural landscape,” said Solomon Kimbugwe.
In his remarks, Steve Elisa the Deputy Commissioner of taxes and Head of MRA’s delegation lauded MRA’s partnership with URA.
“We are benchmarking on URA’s BMS for better management of our small and medium enterprises. Whereas we are just starting, URA has been in practice, so there are more lessons to learn, “said Steve Elisa.
Irene Mbabazi, URA’s Assistant Commissioner for Learning and Development, hinted at URA’s performance management.
