Could Uganda Revenue Authority's general demand for customers account details from commercial banks have been handled better?

On 18 July 2022, the Ugandan High Court issued a landmark decision on the liability for loss suffered due to digital bank fraud in the case of Aida Atiku versus Centenary Rural Development Bank Limited, (the defendant/bank) Civil Suit No. 0754 of 2020. The case concerned an account holder with Centenary Bank who lost a substantial amount of the money that she had deposited in her account due to unauthorised transactions. The court was put to task to apportion liability for the loss suffered due to the unauthorised transactions.

The Head of State on the 2nd June 2022 assented to a number of amendments to the country’s tax regime. Some of these changes have far reaching ramifications to Foreign Investors, Tax Practitioners, and the Business Community generally. The changes shall take effect on the 1st July 2022. We set out below a summary of the amendments to the different tax laws.

Transacting online for work, school, banking, or pleasure, and therefore exchanging personal information, has never been more pronounced than today. Social distancing brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated reliance on the internet. As a result, cybercrime is a great threat and the encroachment to the right to privacy of information is heightened each day.

The Tax Amendment Bills, 2021 that were assented to by the President on 29th May 2021 came into force on 1st July 2021. The amendments are geared toward improving tax administration, reducing tax leakages, and enhancing revenues collected by the Tax Authority. The purpose of this Alert, as set out below, is to summarize the key provisions of the amendments and their potential effect on taxpayers.

The record-breaking rise in water levels of Lake Victoria has left many residents and business owners on its shores in fear. The rise, attributed to increased rainfall has wrecked several homes, farms and businesses. In response to this, Government of Uganda through National Environment Management Authority (the “NEMA”) has moved to evict encroachers who are within the protection zones of wetlands, shorelines and forest reserves.

The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Act 2020 which came into force on 1st July 2020 has revised the rate of stamp duty payable on debentures, equitable mortgages and further charges. Effective 1st July 2020, stamp duty has been waived on debentures, equitable mortgages and further charges. Previously, a stamp duty of 0.5% was payable on debentures. Under the now repealed item 27, 30 and item 33 of the 2014 Stamp Duty Amendment Act, stamp duty of 0.5% of the value of the facility was payable on debentures, equitable mortgages and further charges.

In March this year, just as Uganda was grappling with the early days of the COVID-19-enforced lockdown, the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA) issued new regulations, the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (Management and Operation of Retirement Benefits Schemes) Regulations, S. I. No. 43 of 2020.

Operators in the telecommunications sector have been notified by the regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (“UCC”), that effective 1st July 2020, the new licensing framework will come into force. The new licensing framework introduces the following key licenses:

The Hon. Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development presented to Parliament the Tax Amendment Bills 2020 on 31st March 2020 with proposed changes to Income Tax, Value Added Tax, Excise Duty and Stamp Duty. We summarize the key proposed changes in this Alert.