President Museveni has blocked a move by URA to direct banks surrender the transactions and details of its customers.
In a letter dated March 16, 2018 and signed by URA’s commissioner of Domestic Taxes, Mr Henry Saka, directed all commercial banks to provide information on account holders from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017.
In supplement of the transactions, URA also wanted more information like Contacts, Residence and TIN numbers of the customers.
This did not go down well with the commercial banks and they remained hesitant to share the information.
This issue has not gone well with the public and customers have been threatening to withdraw all their funds from the banks since the aspect of privacy and trust was being invaded.
It’s from this perspective that the issue surfaced in yesterday’s cabinet meeting at State House Entebbe.
Finance minister Hon Matia Kasaija was grilled when the matter was raised.
In his defence, Minister Kasaija said that he was not consulted by URA Commissioner General, Miss Doris Akol on the issue and he was also seeking guidance on how the matter will be handled.
Sources reveal that President Museveni who was presiding over the meeting became so furious and wondered why URA is executing such a terrible move.
The sources further revealed that Museveni said that URA should concentrate on tax defaulters other than focusing on all Ugandans.
It was also noted that President Museveni said that such a move would scare away investors and the economy would collapse in the long run.
This website understands that Uganda Bankers association had filed a petition challenging URA’s move to access their customers’ data.
