Uganda loses Shs400bn in gold tax
Uganda has recorded a Shs475.257 billion loss in gold revenue in the last two months, following the Government’s decision to impose a 5% tax on every kilogramme of refined gold and 10% on unprocessed export of the precious mineral.
Dr Albert Musisi, the commissioner of macro-economics at the ministry of Finance, confirmed the report and said that the government failed to extract any revenue from the lucrative gemstone. He noted that this is a heavy blow to the government and strongly discourages private sector dealings in the valuable mineral.
Fiscal policy
“For the last two months, we have not made many exports. It is something to do with the new fiscal policy on minerals. We are engaging the private players to have a harmonised position on that. The players have requested the government to revise this tax downwards and negotiations are being held to this end. Pending the conclusion of these negotiations, there were no exports of gold from Uganda in the month of July,” said Dr Musisi
The 10th Parliament in May approved the Mining Bill (Amended) 2021, giving the government the go ahead to impose the 5% levy on every kilogramme of refined gold and 10% on unprocessed gold exported.The revenue loss is attributed to the illegal channels through which the local traders conduct the trade.
“If there are any minerals that are smuggled, that is unfortunate. It means that there is someone who is not doing his job to allow our minerals to be smuggled out of the country. We shall find a solution to this,” assured The State minister of Finance in charge of Planning, Mr Amos Lugoloobi.
