Case file EDA-2015-LUBE5
Excise duty of 5% on motor vehicle lubricants
Highest rung reached: Reported yieldLaw: pending verificationNew tax · Revenue
1 point pending verification
- The 2015 amending text and the later Act that raised the rate to 15%.
Law
- Principal Act
- Excise Duty Act (Cap 336), enacted as Act 11 of 2014
- Amending Act
- Excise Duty (Amendment) Act 2015 (Act 7 of 2015) (probable: the only amending Act in force from the right date, not confirmed)
- Provision, revised numbering (2023 revision)
- Sch. 2, item 15
- Provision, numbering before the revision
- not stated in any source read
- Principal Act dates
- assent 2014-10-19; gazette 2014-10-24; commencement 2014-07-01; Uganda Gazette 61
- Amending Act in force from
- assent, gazettement and commencement dates pending
- Tax heads and taxpayers affected
- Excise duty. Importers and users of motor vehicle lubricants.
- Status
- Legal: superseded. Implementation: implemented.
| Section A: The law | |
|---|---|
| Amending Act | Excise Duty (Amendment) Act 2015 (Act 7 of 2015) |
| In force from | pending |
| Assent | pending |
| Section B: What the law said before | |
| The wording before and after is set out in the redline below. | |
| *** END OF CHANGE SLIP *** | |
The redline
as at 2015-07
Deleted: 5%Observed: A value or event as an official source records it, copied without calculation. described, not statutory wording[URA-ARR-1516, printed page 29, PDF page 33]
as at 2025-07-01
Inserted: Lubricants under HS codes 2710.19.51, 2710.19.52, 3403.19.00 and 3403.99.00 including motor vehicle lubricants, but not aircraft lubricants: 15%Verified law: Wording or a date read in a statutory text, with the version and page named.[ULII-EDA-2025, printed page 15, PDF page 17, Schedule 2, item 15]
The struck rate is URA's description of the FY2015/16 rate, not statutory wording. The underlined text is the current Act. The steps between them were not read.
In plain English
Interpretation: A reading of the evidence, by a named source or by this register. Lubricants for motor vehicles were brought into excise. The rate has since been raised; the current Act charges a higher percentage.
Reason
Stated objective pending verification
Revenue
- Rung 1
Observed change
Observed: A value or event as an official source records it, copied without calculation.- Collections for the tax heads affected are drawn on the story page, from URA's annual data books. Before and after is never presented as this amendment's effect.
- Rung 2
Official forecast
Official forecast: What MoFPED or URA said a measure would raise, or why it was made, before the year began.Missing. No official forecast for this measure was found in the budget documents or URA reports read. The budget speech and the Finance Bill memorandum for the year would settle it (MoFPED).
- Rung 3
Reported yield
Reported yield: What URA attributes to a measure after the year. An official attribution, not a causal estimate.- URA reports UGX 16.07 bn for FY2015/16.[URA-ARR-1516, printed page 29, PDF page 33]
- Rung 4
Static or modelled estimate
Modelled estimate: A mechanical or model calculation, with every assumption shown.Missing. No estimate made. A static estimate needs the taxable base before the change (volumes or values by product), which the register does not hold.
- Rung 5
Causal estimate
Causal estimate: An effect identified by a stated research design against a comparison group.Missing. No study with a defensible identification strategy was found for this amendment.
- Rung 6
Wider impact
Interpretation: A reading of the evidence, by a named source or by this register.Missing. No source read for the register describes effects on prices, compliance cost, investment or equity.
What is known, what is uncertain, and what would settle it
- Known: reported yield.
- Uncertain: official forecast, static or modelled estimate, causal estimate, wider impact; and 1 open point below.
Pathway
From the amendment to its wider consequences. Select a link to read what supports it. No money is drawn along the chain, because no flow along it is measured.
No evidence: Nothing read speaks to this link. No evidence found is not evidence of no effect.
The statutory text was not read; the change is known from official reports.
- amendment: no evidence. The statutory text was not read; the change is known from official reports.
- mechanism: hypothesised. A new charge on a base not taxed before.
- implementation: verified. URA reports performance for the measure, so it was applied.
- response: no evidence. No source read describes how taxpayers responded.
- outcome: verified. URA reports a yield. It is an official attribution, not a causal estimate.
- wider: no evidence. No source read measures wider effects. No evidence found is not evidence of no effect.
Consequences
Graded against ten criteria. No composite score: a reform that raises money can still be regressive or costly to comply with, and one that loses revenue can serve a legitimate aim. Revenue effectiveness is graded by a stated rule; the rest only where a source speaks to them.
What worked
No criterion graded effective on the evidence read.
What did not
No criterion graded ineffective or counterproductive on the evidence read.
Open or not evaluated
Revenue effectiveness
No pair of official forecast and reported yield in shillings.(graded by rule)
Not evaluated
Legal clarity and certainty
No source read for the register speaks to this criterion.
Not evaluated
Administrative feasibility
No source read for the register speaks to this criterion.
Not evaluated
Compliance cost
No source read for the register speaks to this criterion.
Not evaluated
Efficiency
No source read for the register speaks to this criterion.
Not evaluated
Investment and competitiveness
No source read for the register speaks to this criterion.
Not evaluated
Vertical and horizontal equity
No source read for the register speaks to this criterion.
Not evaluated
Distributional effect
No source read for the register speaks to this criterion.
Not evaluated
Implementation quality
No source read for the register speaks to this criterion.
Not evaluated
Unintended consequences
No source read for the register speaks to this criterion.
Not evaluated
Afterlife
No Tax Appeals Tribunal or court decision on this provision is on record yet. That is not evidence that none exists.
Pending verification
- The 2015 amending text and the later Act that raised the rate to 15%.
Sources
URA-ARR-1516
Annual Revenue Report FY 2015/16
Uganda Revenue Authority. 2016. Covers FY2015/16.
Desktop/Personal/URA DATA BOOKS AND REVENUE REPORTS/Annual Revenue Report FY 2015-16.pdf
Status: verified. Pages confirmed for this record in the source audit: 33 (PDF).
Policy measures table read from the page image (PDF page 33, printed page 29).
ULII-EDA-2025
Excise Duty Act (Chapter 336), version of 1 July 2025
Uganda Legal Information Institute (ULII) and Laws.Africa, from the Law Reform Commission revision. 2025-07-01. Covers Text in force from 1 July 2025; revised and consolidated as at 31 December 2023, later amendments applied by Laws.Africa.
Desktop/Personal/Tax Legislation and URA Returns/Excise Duty Act Cap 336.pdf
Status: verified. Pages confirmed for this record in the source audit: 17 (PDF).
Read in full with pdftotext. Lists amending Acts on PDF page 3.