The Casebook · The lodging counter
Lodge a case
The part of tax work nobody puts in a podcast: the rule that did not fit, the system that blocked you, the document that won it. Write it once, and the next professional who meets it starts where you finished.
This counter is not the Tribunal
Lodging here shares a solved problem with other professionals. It does not start or stop anything with the Revenue Authority. If you have a live dispute, your application goes to the Tax Appeals Tribunal itself:
- Within 30 days after you are served with the decision. The Tribunal may extend the time on written application, but the application must be made within six months of the decision (Tax Appeals Tribunals Act, Cap 341, s. 16(1), (2) and (7)).
- In the prescribed form, Form TAT 1, with a statement of your reasons. It does not count as made until the prescribed fee is paid (s. 16(5)). Confirm the fee at the registry: the Tribunal's page gives UGX 22,000 but cites older rules, and the 2012 Rules appear to set fees by the tax in dispute. We could not open their full schedule.
- Serve the decision maker with a copy within five days (s. 16(3)). It then has 30 days to lodge its papers with the Tribunal (s. 17(1)).
- Pay the deposit: 30% of the tax assessed or the part not in dispute, whichever is greater, pending the objection (s. 15(1)). Some rulings in this book turn on what that means.
- A hearing date is fixed, with at least 14 days' notice to both parties, according to the Tribunal's page.
From the Act as at 31 December 2023 and the Tribunal's How to Apply page. Check the current law and take advice: this is not legal advice.
Before you write: what to leave out
- Names of the taxpayer, its directors, staff, customers or suppliers, and of tax officers.
- TINs, invoice, assessment, objection or case reference numbers.
- Exact amounts: give a range (UGX 100m to 500m) or a share (about a third of the assessment).
- Exact dates: the fiscal year is enough, unless the dates are the point (as with a deadline), in which case give the gap in days.
- A combination that points to one firm: a narrow sector, a district and an unusual amount together can identify a taxpayer even with no name.
- Documents. We may ask to see redacted papers to check the facts; they are never published and are deleted after review.
If you work for URA or a ministry
Tax officers must keep secret all information and documents received in the course of their duties, and the duty continues after they leave (Tax Procedures Code Act s. 55). Share the problem in general terms only: the rule, the gap, the fix. Never facts about a taxpayer. You may also need your employer's clearance to publish under your name; anonymous contribution is always open.
If you advise clients
Your duty of confidentiality to your client still applies. Anonymise fully, or ask your client's permission. A case does not need to identify anyone to be useful: what matters is the problem and how it was solved.
What happens to your case
- 1
You write it
Using the questions below, in your own words.
- 2
We anonymise it
An editor removes or generalises anything identifying and sends the edit back to you.
- 3
We check the law
Every section cited is checked against the Act as it stood when the events happened.
- 4
You approve it
Nothing is published until you approve the final text and how you are credited.
- 5
It is published
With an evidence label on every section. Tell us later if the practice changes, and we add an update.
Write your case
Eight questions, the same shape as every case in the book (see Case 002 for one told in full). Answer as many as you can; short is fine.