OAG Report: CSOs urge government agencies to expand the active tax base to maximize revenue collection.

As a result of government move to introduce  tax reforms, there has been rising domestic revenue collection from FY2021/22 UGX22.097 Tn to FY2024/25 UGX32.357 Tn, however according to civil society organization the revenue increase has not translated into stronger revenue effort through a larger tax base from the untaxed areas.  

CSOs under the Civil Society Advocacy Advocacy Group (CSBAG) have raised their concern based on the released findings from the Office of the Auditor General for the year 2025 which indicates a mismatch between Uganda’s economic structure and it's tax contribution calling for a decisive corrective action.

The Executive Director of CSBAG Mr. Julius Mukunda during a press conference held on 8th March 2025 at their offices in Ntinda highlighted that the expansion of the tax payers register has not been matched by effective compliance enforcement.

“The tax base remains significantly smaller than the headline registration numbers suggest. This suggests that while the economy is expanding and normal collections are rising, government is not capturing larger share of the national income” he said.

Mukunda said that of the new tax payers registered by URA, few tax payers contributed while the rest remain inactive yet they are wanting incomes citing Agribusiness transactions that continue to earn big from agriculture yet under utilized.

On the domestic arrears he urged government to reduce another “fiscal indispline” of signing contacts without prompt or no payment that he says is undermine local companies ability to contribute to economic growth.

“The expansion of domestic borrowing also absorbs liquidity from the financial system, potentially crowding out private sector credit and raising borrowing cost for businesses” he said

In he findings of he OAG Indicated xonvernson rising public debt, challenges in domestic revenue performance, pressure on health financing, education infrastructure gaps, land management issues, persistent, non compliance of PPDA guildline of public procurements, wetland degradation among others.

“of th 65 procurement and disposal entities including MDAs and local government, none of the sampled entities had fully complied with PPDA guildline no. 11 of 2024, particularly with respect to reserving procurement budgets, identifying reserved items in procurement plans” the report revealed.

In the audit year ended 31st December 2025, the Office of the Auditor General audited 185 ministries, departments, and agencies, 85 public corporations, 181 projects, 145 district and cities among others.

OAG Report: CSOs urge government agencies to expand the active tax base to maximize revenue collection. 

When government introduced tax reforms there has been rising domestic revenue collection from FY2021/22 UGX22.097 Tn to FY2024/25 UGX32.357 Tn, however according to civil society organization the revenue increase has not translated into stronger revenue effort through a larger tax base from the untaxed areas. 

CSOs under the Civil Society Advocacy Advocacy Group (CSBAG) have raised their concern based on the released findings from the Office of the Auditor General for the year 2025 which indicates a mismatch between Uganda’s economic structure and it's tax contribution calling for a decisive corrective action. 

The Executive Director of CSBAG Mr. Julius Mukunda during a press conference held on 8th March 2025 at their offices in Ntinda highlighted that the expansion of the tax payers register has not been matched by effective compliance enforcement. 

“The tax base remains significantly smaller than the headline registration numbers suggest. This suggests that while the economy is expanding and normal collections are rising, government is not capturing larger share of the national income” he said.

Mukunda said that of the new tax payers registered by URA, few tax payers contributed while the rest remain inactive yet they are wanting incomes citing Agribusiness transactions that continue to earn big from agriculture yet under utilized.

On the domestic arrears he urged government to reduce another “fiscal indispline” of signing contacts without prompt or no payment that he says is undermine local companies ability to contribute to economic growth. 

“The expansion of domestic borrowing also absorbs liquidity from the financial system, potentially crowding out private sector credit and raising borrowing cost for businesses” he said 

In he findings of he OAG Indicated xonvernson rising public debt, challenges in domestic revenue performance, pressure on health financing, education infrastructure gaps, land management issues, persistent, non compliance of PPDA guildline of public procurements, wetland degradation among others.

“of th 65 procurement and disposal entities including MDAs and local government, none of the sampled entities had fully complied with PPDA guildline no. 11 of 2024, particularly with respect to reserving procurement budgets, identifying reserved items in procurement plans” the report revealed. 

In the audit year ended 31st December 2025, the Office of the Auditor General audited 185 ministries, departments, and agencies, 85 public corporations, 181 projects, 145 district and cities among others.