TaxIntellilytics Stories

The dispatch book · File 027 · last verified 28 October 2026

TaxIntellilytics Stories · The Dispatch Book · taxintellilyticsstories.com/research/reform-tracker/TIL-REF-2026-027 · printed

File 027 · from UNU-WIDER · to URA

Do not mandate system-to-system e-invoicing for all VAT-registered firms.

331days in the tray, no public evidence of actionRecommended 1 Dec 2025

Evidence slip

Sent01.12.25ReviewedLawDone

From UNU-WIDER · to Uganda Revenue Authority · VAT

“our results do not imply that the URA should mandate all VAT-registered firms to adopt this version of e-invoicing”

section 6, PDF p.36

The desks

Sent01.12.25The panopticon taxman: the impact of e-invoicing on VAT comp…
Reviewed
no evidence
Law
no evidence
Funded
no evidence
Under way
no evidence
Done
no evidence
Evaluated
no evidence

Sent, 1 December 2025. Recommended in The panopticon taxman: the impact of e-invoicing on VAT compliance in Uganda (WIDER Working Paper 2025/112) (section 6, PDF p.36).

The route slip

From finding to result, link by link

Each box is one link of the reform chain. ✓ documented; ? claimed but not documented; · no evidence yet, with what it needs. This file stops at: Action.

  1. FindingDocumentedUniversal system-to-system migration might backfire for smaller firms with high compliance costs.
  2. ProblemDocumentedCompliance costs of system-to-system integration fall hardest on small firms.
  3. RecommendationDocumented"our results do not imply that the URA should mandate all VAT-registered firms to adopt this version of e-invoicing" (UNU-WIDER (Lees, Jouste, Musoke, Okello), section 6, PDF p.36)
  4. Legal powerDocumentedURA Act Cap. 196 s.3(1)(a) (assess, collect and account for revenue) and s.3(1)(b) (advise the Minister); opened, URA-ACT-S3
  5. InstitutionNamedUganda Revenue Authority
  6. ActionNo evidence yetneeds a dated decision, response or delivery document
  7. OutputNo evidence yetneeds a published output measure
  8. OutcomeNo evidence yetneeds an outcome measure with a baseline
  9. EvaluationNo evidence yetneeds an evaluation with a stated method

Why it was recommended

Finding. Universal system-to-system migration might backfire for smaller firms with high compliance costs.

Problem. Compliance costs of system-to-system integration fall hardest on small firms.

Strength of the evidence behind it: high.

Who has the power to act

Uganda Revenue Authority. Legal power checked: URA Act Cap. 196 s.3(1)(a) (assess, collect and account for revenue) and s.3(1)(b) (advise the Minister); opened, URA-ACT-S3.

Sources

  • The panopticon taxman: the impact of e-invoicing on VAT compliance in Uganda (WIDER Working Paper 2025/112)
    UNU-WIDER (Lees, Jouste, Musoke, Okello) · 2025-12-01 · section 6, Conclusion and policy implications, PDF pp.35 to 36
    https://doi.org/10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2025/671-1