Tax Procedures Code Act

The Act applies to every tax law listed in Schedule 2 to this Act.

This section provides definitions of terms used in the Act.

People liable for tax must apply to the Commissioner General for registration; the Commissioner General must register applicants who meet requirements, must notify refusals within fourteen days, may use registration information for this Act, and may request further information.

Commissioner General issues one TIN upon registration; persons must state their TIN on tax documents; registered tax agents may use a taxpayer’s TIN with written permission and only for that taxpayer’s tax affairs; TINs are personal and generally must not be used by others; Commissioner General may cancel or replace TINs; local authorities and similar bodies must not grant licences or register certain instruments without a TIN.

The Commissioner General must de-register a person by written notice when satisfied the person is no longer required or is eligible; persons may apply for de-registration in the prescribed manner and de-registration takes effect from the date in the notice; de-registered persons must comply with related requirements.

Every taxpayer must keep English-language records (including electronic), keep records enabling tax liability to be ascertained, and retain them for five years or as otherwise specified; Commissioner General may permit other languages/currencies on application and may require translation at the person's expense.

People required to file tax returns must submit them in the prescribed form and manner to the Commissioner General; the Commissioner General may appoint someone to file for a non-filer at that person’s cost and may require fuller returns if not satisfied. Various return-specific deadlines (six months, sixty days, fifteen days, weekly/monthly timing) apply and certain taxpayers must attach audited financial statements when turnover meets Schedule 4.

Tax agents who prepare or assist with a taxpayer's return must give the taxpayer a prescribed signed certificate (or, if not, provide written reasons), declare in the return whether they provided a certificate or statement, produce copies to the Commissioner General on notice, and keep copies for five years.

The Commissioner General may, by written notice during a tax period, require a taxpayer (or the taxpayer’s representative) to furnish a tax return for that period and to pay any tax due in specified cases.

Section Extension of time to furnish tax return Section A person required to furnish a tax return may apply in writing to the Commissioner General for an extension of time to furnish the return. An application under subsection (1) shall be

Persons dealing in goods must affix a tax stamp on locally manufactured or imported goods as prescribed; the Commissioner General must prescribe how stamps are affixed; the Minister must, by statutory instrument, specify which goods require stamps.

Specifies penal tax, offences and penalties relating to tax stamps including failure to affix or activate stamps, printing over or defacing stamps, possession of unstamped goods, unauthorised acquisition or sale of stamps, unauthorised use of stamps, tampering with digital stamp machines, and defines “tax” for the section.

Submitting a prescribed self-assessment return is treated as the taxpayer's assessment of the amounts stated in that return (tax payable, assessed loss, or excess input tax credit); an electronically completed prescribed form is a self-assessment return even if pre-filled by the Commissioner General.

If a taxpayer fails to file a required self‑assessment return, the Commissioner General may make an assessment and must serve the assessed taxpayer with a written notice specifying the assessed amount (or assessed loss or excess input tax credit), penal tax and interest, the tax period, the due date, and how to object.

Allows the Commissioner General to make an advance tax assessment in relation to a taxpayer covered by section 18 and requires the Commissioner General to serve notice of that assessment specifying amounts, period, due date and objection procedure; taxpayers remain required to file the relevant return.

The Commissioner General may make an additional assessment to amend a tax assessment for a tax period; where an additional assessment is made the Commissioner General must serve the taxpayer a written notice specifying amounts, tax period, payment date and how to object; taxpayers who discover errors may apply for leave within three years.

Rules for objections to tax decisions: a dissatisfied person (taxpayer) may lodge an objection within forty-five days, the objection must be in the prescribed form stating grounds and sufficient evidence; the Commissioner General may consider and decide on objections, must serve notice of a decision within ninety days, extensions and elections to treat late decisions as allowed are provided, and taxpayers may apply for alternative dispute resolution.

A person dissatisfied with an objection decision may, within thirty days of being served with notice, apply to the Tribunal for review; a person dissatisfied with a Tribunal decision may, within thirty days of being served with notice, apply to the High Court for review.

In proceedings under this Act, the taxpayer must prove a tax assessment is incorrect; for other tax decisions, the person objecting must prove the decision was wrong or should have been made differently.

The Commissioner General may refer a taxpayer's case to the Minister if the tax cannot be effectively recovered; the Minister may remit the tax, with Parliament's approval, if satisfied it cannot be recovered.

The Minister must pay any tax due and payable by Government that arises from government commitments to pay tax for a person or from counterpart funding for aid-funded projects.

Registered taxpayers who were liable to pay or withhold tax between 1 April 2020 and 30 June 2020 have their tax payment obligations deferred until 31 December 2020; the payment deferral for payers is limited to businesses in education, tourism, manufacturing, horticulture or floriculture.

Any interest and penalty outstanding as at 30th June, 2020, is waived.

If the taxpayer pays the principal tax by 31st December, 2023, any interest and penalty outstanding as at 30th June, 2023 will be waived; part payments by that date lead to a pro‑rata waiver.

Gives the Commissioner General broad powers to access premises, records and data storage devices for administering tax laws, allows seizure/retention and requires occupiers to assist; includes rights for affected persons to inspect seized materials and compensation where loss occurs.

The Commissioner General may, by written notice for administering tax law, require any person to furnish information or attend for examination and produce records; taxpayers who fail to provide requested information cannot later supply it at objection or ADR (subject to a three‑year limitation); construction and extractive industry persons must disclose contracted persons' names within seven days or pay one thousand currency points.

Certain taxpayers and persons who require a tax clearance certificate must obtain or apply for a tax clearance certificate from the Commissioner General; for passenger/freight transport with goods vehicles of two tonnes or more this is required if the Competent Authority so requires.

The Uganda Revenue Authority must issue certificates of origin required under section 111(2) of the East African Community Customs Management Act, 2004.

The Commissioner General may, by written instrument, delegate duties, powers or functions under a tax law to specified officers, except the power to compound offences under section 84 and the power to delegate.

Tax officers and persons appointed or employed under tax law must keep information and documents secret, with limited exceptions for necessary disclosures and authorised uses by specified authorities.

A person who does not furnish a tax return by the due date (or within further time allowed by the Commissioner General) must pay a penal tax equal to 2% of the tax payable or ten currency points per month, whichever is higher, for the period the return is outstanding.

If a person deliberately fails to keep required tax records for a tax period, they must pay a penal tax equal to double the tax payable for that period.

If a person, after the Commissioner General requests them, fails to provide transfer-pricing records within thirty days they are liable to a penal tax of 2,500 currency points; failure to provide other requested information to the Commissioner General incurs a penal tax of 1,000 currency points.

If a person knowingly or recklessly gives a false or misleading statement to an officer of the Authority, or omits a matter that makes a statement misleading, and the properly payable tax exceeds the tax assessed because of that false or misleading statement or omission, the provision concerns penal tax for that conduct.

If a provisional taxpayer underestimates chargeable income or gross turnover to less than 90% of actual, they must pay a penal tax equal to 20% of the difference between tax on their estimate and tax on 90% of actual; the section excludes taxpayers in agricultural, plantation, or horticultural farming.

A person who fails to apply for registration as required under a tax law is liable to a default penalty equal to the higher of (a) double the tax payable for the period from the last day of the application period until they file or are registered by the Commissioner General, or (b) fifty currency points; the Commissioner General shall recover and collect the penalty as if it were unpaid tax.

A person becomes liable to pay penal tax when the Commissioner General serves a demand notice; convicted persons are exempt; the Commissioner General must refund paid penal tax if criminal proceedings are later instituted; the Minister may remit penal tax on written good cause and advice of the Commissioner General.

Anyone who fails to furnish a tax return by the due date, or within any extension the Commissioner General allows, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty currency points; if after conviction they fail to furnish the return within the period specified by the court they commit another offence liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred currency points.

Creates an offence for any person who fails to comply with specified notices and obligations under several listed sections (including sections 34, 18(2), 48, 49, 50, 10, 12, 55 and 90) and states that notifying the Commissioner General under section 34(5) counts as compliance until the Commissioner General amends or rejects that notice under section 34(6).

A taxpayer who knowingly or recklessly fails to keep records required by tax law commits an offence and on conviction faces a fine not exceeding one hundred currency points or imprisonment for up to six years, or both.

Any person who knowingly or recklessly uses a false TIN on a tax return or prescribed tax document commits an offence and may be fined up to one hundred fifty currency points or imprisoned for up to six years, or both.

Any person who knowingly or recklessly makes a false or misleading statement to a tax officer, or omits information that renders a statement false or misleading in a material particular, is covered by this section.

Any person who obstructs a tax officer in the performance of duties under a tax law commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty currency points or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or both.

Anyone who aids, abets, counsels or induces another to commit a tax-law offence commits an offence and is liable on conviction to the same punishment as the principal; if the offender is a tax agent, enhanced fines or imprisonment may apply.

Any person must not damage or destroy goods or related documents before, during or after distress or seizure proceedings to prevent seizure, securing of goods or proof of an offence, and must not enter premises under an order under section 36 without the Commissioner General's permission.

Any person who fails to apply, notify a registration change to the Commissioner General, or apply to cancel registration as required under a tax law commits an offence and is liable on conviction to fines or imprisonment, with higher penalties if done knowingly or recklessly.

Any person who is not registered as a tax agent who acts as a tax agent commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to fine not exceeding twenty-four currency points or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both.

A taxpayer who does not affix or activate prescribed tax stamps commits an offence and may be fined up to 1,500 currency points or imprisoned for up to 10 years, or both.

Any person who prints over or defaces tax stamps affixed on prescribed goods commits an offence liable to a fine up to 1,500 currency points or imprisonment up to ten years, or both.

Any person who forges or is found in possession of a forged tax stamp commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 1,500 currency points or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or both.

A taxpayer specified under section 92(2) must issue electronic invoices or receipts or use an electronic fiscal device in accordance with section 92; failure to do so is an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand five hundred currency points or imprisonment for up to ten years, or both.

Any person who forges or possesses a forged electronic receipt or invoice commits an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand five hundred currency points or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or both.

Any person who makes an unauthorised interference with the software or hardware of an electronic fiscal device or electronic dispensing control device commits an offence and faces a fine not exceeding one thousand five hundred currency points or imprisonment for up to ten years, or both.

Any person who, contrary to regulations under section 88(5) of the Income Tax Act, fails to file information returns or maintain records for automatic exchange of information, makes false or misleading statements in such returns, or omits statements, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,500 currency points per day of default or imprisonment for up to ten years, or both.

A taxpayer who fixes and activates a tax stamp on a wrong good, brand or volume commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding five thousand currency points or imprisonment not exceeding ten years, or both.

The section prohibits tax officers from soliciting or accepting improper payments or entering agreements to defraud tax revenue; impersonating a tax officer is an offence with specified penalties; volunteers of information may be exonerated but face specified financial liability.

Attribution rules: where a tax-law offence is committed by a company, unincorporated association, or partnership, specified persons (officers, managers, partners) are treated as having committed the offence; certain persons are exempt if they lacked consent/knowledge or exercised all diligence.

A tax officer authorised in writing by the Commissioner General may appear in court for the Commissioner General in civil proceedings, may conduct prosecutions under the Act, and for that purpose has the powers of a public prosecutor appointed under section 42 of the Magistrates Courts Act, subject to the Director of Public Prosecutions' powers under Article 120 of the Constitution.

The Commissioner General may compound certain tax offences by agreement with the offender before court proceedings if the offender pays unpaid tax and a fine (or, on voluntary disclosure, unpaid tax without interest or fine); the agreement must specify details, include a written admission, be served, is not appealable and bars prosecution for the same act.

Tax amounts due remain payable even if the taxpayer is convicted or punished for a tax offence or the offence is compounded under section 84.

The validity of a tax decision, a notice of a tax decision, or any other movement purporting to be made or executed under a tax law is not affected by non-compliance with provisions, by want of form, or by mistake, defect, omission or commission in it.

If satisfied there is an apparent error (not involving a dispute about law or facts), the Commissioner General may amend the order, decision, document or notice within three years of its making or issuance.

Forms, notices and other documents for tax laws must be in the form the Commissioner General determines; the Commissioner General must make those documents publicly available at Authority offices, other locations, or by mail or other means; a document from the Commissioner General is authenticated if the name or title of the Commissioner General or an authorised tax officer is printed, stamped, or written on it.

The Commissioner General must publish the prescribed forms in the Gazette and a newspaper with wide circulation.

Taxpayers must furnish tax returns, applications, notices or other required documents; notices or documents the Commissioner General must serve are treated as sufficiently served if delivered by specified methods (personal delivery, registered post, left at known addresses, or electronic transmission) and registered post is treated as served on the fourteenth day after postage unless proved otherwise.

The Commissioner General may set up and run an electronic notice system and prescribe conditions for its operation; returns sent via a registered user's authentication code are presumed to be furnished by that user until they cancel the code unless the user proves otherwise; a person submitting a return for another must not disclose its contents without prior written consent of the Commissioner General.

The provision permits taxpayers to issue e-invoices or e-receipts or use electronic fiscal devices linked to the centralised system, requires the Commissioner General to designate by Gazette which taxpayers must use them, and requires taxpayers so designated to use them in all business transactions.

Taxpayers specified under section 80(2) who fail to use an electronic fiscal device, fail to issue an e-invoice/e-receipt, or who tamper with the device face penal tax; acquiring a device not linked or authenticated is an offence punishable by fine and/or imprisonment.

The Commissioner General must pay informers who provide information identifying unassessed tax or duty or leading to recovery; payments are set as percentages or capped shilling amounts, and officers or staff of the Authority are excluded.

The Minister may make regulations by statutory instrument, and those regulations may prescribe fees, transitional provisions, and penalties including fines and imprisonment; courts must forfeit items used to commit offences.

The Minister may amend Schedule 1 with Cabinet approval, and may amend Schedules 2 and 4 with Parliamentary approval, by statutory instrument.

Prosecutions, expired periods, tax liabilities, and existing forms are governed transitionally by specified rules in this section.