TAPE 01
A new set of bands, not a higher line
The nil band rose from UGX 2.82m to 4.02m a year and a new 25% band runs from 4.92m to 5.82m. Above 5.82m everyone saves exactly UGX 165,000 a year; nobody pays more. The law, before and after
Uganda Tax Amendment Register · Fiscal Intelligence and Reform Lab · Project 4
What changed? Read the receipts.
A tax amendment Act is abstract until it prints a line on your own bill. Here are the receipts that the 2025 and 2026 amendment Acts (income tax, excise duty, VAT, stamp duty and tax procedures) printed for eight example taxpayers: what each paid before, what each pays now, and the law that made the difference. Every figure is arithmetic on the cited provision.
My bill · pin slips here
Pull a slip out of the pile and press “Pin to my bill”. Yearly changes add up here; one-off charges are listed, not added.
−165,000a year for every employee above UGX 5.82m: the same saving for a clerk and a chief executive
Income Tax Act Schedule 4 Part 1, before (Cap 338 as at 23 Dec 2024, p. 88) and after (Act 21 of 2026, s. 16). The law →
50 daysthe 2026 income tax and excise changes applied before they became law
Acts 21 and 22 of 2026: assent 20 August 2026, commencement 1 July 2026 (p. 1 of each Act). The law →
Under UGX 4mof tax due, the EFRIS penalty fell
Tax Procedures Code s. 93(1): the tax due or 400 currency points, whichever is higher (Cap 343, p. 43), became double the tax due (Act 11 of 2025). The law →
Pick a year and a taxpayer to sort the pile. Drag slips with a mouse; tap or click one to pull it out; arrow keys walk the pile. Tap a sticky note's pin to see its source.
Print your own PAYE line
| PAYE a year, FY2025/26 bands | 4,224,000 |
|---|---|
| PAYE a year, FY2026/27 bands | 4,059,000 |
| Change | −165,000 |
Resident individual rates, ITA Schedule 4 Part 1, on annual chargeable income (pay × 12; allowances and reliefs ignored).
Three things the receipts show that the headlines did not
TAPE 02
A tougher penalty, gentler for small invoices
From “the tax due or 400 currency points (UGX 8m), whichever is higher” to “double the tax due”. UGX 1m of tax: 8m becomes 2m. UGX 10m of tax: 10m becomes 20m. The law, before and after
TAPE 03
An exemption became a tax
EXEMPT5%
Interest on qualifying debentures paid abroad was exempt under s. 82(5). From 1 July 2026 it carries 5%: UGX 0 becomes 5m on UGX 100m of interest. The law, before and after
The paper you now fill in
THINGS TO DO · FROM 1 JULY 2026
- Withhold 6% from payments to public entertainers, and file itnew duty for whoever pays them
- Withhold 5% on debenture interest paid abroad, and file itnew duty for the paying company
- Take every stake and pay every win through the central payments gatewaynew duty for casino, gaming and betting operators
- Pay stamp duty when a vehicle is registered or transferrednew duty for vehicle buyers and owners
- Register for VAT and file a monthly VAT returnno longer required of traders with UGX 150m to 300m turnover
Next in the Lab: what each of these steps costs in hours and shillings.
What the receipts can and cannot say
- Arithmetic, not behaviour. Every slip holds behaviour fixed; excise lines assume the whole duty reaches the shelf price and buying does not change.
- Not revenue. Of 91 amendments in the register, one has a causal estimate of what it raised.
- A correction, in pen. The public consolidation of the Excise Duty Act “as at 1 July 2025” leaves out the 2024 amending Act, so the 2026 fuel rise looked like UGX 300 200 a litre. The 2024 Act shows 200, as the budget speech said. The corrected record
Sources: Income Tax Act Cap 338, Tax Procedures Code Act Cap 343, VAT Act Cap 344 (ULII consolidations as at 23 December 2024), Excise Duty Act Cap 336 (as at 1 July 2025), Stamp Duty Act Cap 339 (as at 31 December 2023) and the 2024, 2025 and 2026 amending Acts. Method and tests: Methods and sources.