URA impounds truck at border point with products without Digital tax stamps.
Drake Nyamugabwa
Though Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has continued to engage and sensitizing manufactures, distributors and other tax payers to stamp all gazetted products across Uganda, many manufactures and business owners are still involved in hatching tricks in manufacturing good without the digital stamps.
URA gazetted a total of 13 products for digital tax stamps including; Beer, Soda, bottled water, wines, spirits, tobacco products, sugar, cement. Other products are; cooking oil, fruit and vegetable juices, non-alcoholic beverages (kombuchas, teas and health drinks, bushera), alcoholic beverages and fermented beverages (cider, mead, perry or other form of beers).
During a verification exercise carried out on 13th August 2022, a truck of registration number UBF 436W was netted at the URA custom ’s border point in Namayingo carrying products of Alakara health drinks without the stamps.
The truck belonged to a distributor one Agamuzahura Company Uganda Ltd located in Amen A in Soroti who was engaged immediately engaged on the anomaly.
The URA Customs Officer at the boarder of Namayingo Bitetirweho Ngumya, said that the products were impounded and handed over to the Domestic Taxes team in the Eastern for the offence management process.
Digital Tax Stamps According to URA is a solution that enables tracking and tracing of a product right from production or importation through distribution to consumption.
It provides for application of Digital Tax Stamps by manufacturers/importers using both manual and automated processes of production, and the verification of products from the factory/importation to the point of sale.
The stamps are physical in nature and are applied on goods or their packaging containing security features such as codes for the purposes of fighting counterfeits and allowing for the tracing of goods.
The initiative is intended to combat trade illicit, substandard or counterfeit products, protect consumers against harmful products, encourage fair competition in the market, increase government revenue to plan for this country.
