The Catholic Social Centre of Kasese on Wednesday received an unfamiliar sight as people converged at the venue in thousands to meet and engage with the URA Commissioner General.
Following an invitation from the leaders of the area MPs Hon Robert Centenary and Hon Winnie Kiiza, a URA team headed by the CG ; Doris Akol met with the traders primarily to listen to their concerns and to conduct tax education. This invitation was directly in sync with URA’s agenda to promote a culture of voluntary compliance in Uganda.
The traders represented by the market traders chairman Muzamil K voiced many concerns some of a domestic tax nature and others about cross border trade. Select traders further echoed their voices as the URA team took note.
The URA CG then took the podium and responded to these concerns one by one educating the business traders along the way about their tax rights and obligations.
She has encouraged taxpayers to take a more pro-active interest into their tax matters and not just leave it up to their agents. She also encouraged them to file and pay in a timely manner to avoid run ins with the law.
She encouraged them to shun the smuggling vice and everything associated with it.
The area MP Hon Robert Centenary thanked the traders for attending the engagement in numbers and for participating actively.
“The majority of the traders here are every day women. The fact that you the URA CG (A fellow woman ) is here to engage with them speaks volumes to them. Thanks for honouring the invitation ” , remarked the Kasese District Woman MP Hon Winnie Kiiza amidst ulutation.
The engagement culminated into URA reaching out to the Kasese community with mattresses donated to 3 hospitals, mama kits donated to expecting mothers and umbrellas donated to market traders to help shield them from the scorching Kasese sun when conducting business.
The URA CG is slated to meet traders of Mpondwe Border Town for a similar engagement today.
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