The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) says it is preparing its systems to manage upcoming petroleum and gas revenues, even as revenue collections for the second half of 2025 fell short of targets due to election disruptions.
Between July and December 2025, URA collected UGX16.476 trillion, below the UGX17.5 trillion target.
Denis Kugonza Kateeba, Commissioner Domestic Taxes, attributed the shortfall to slowed operations during the 2026 electoral period.
“The total revenue collection was UGX16.476 Trillion against a target of UGX17.5 Trillion, registering a performance of 94.09%. This was due to the second quarter interruptions of the elections which have been ongoing going on where URA slowed down some activities to allow the political parties to mobilise their citizens and also the economy,” Kugonza said.
He remained confident that the Authority would recover the deficit in the first half of 2026.
“Some taxpayers slowed down on their activities and we are confident that in the coming cycle, this new cycle of January to June, we shall recover rapidly and recover all the deficit.”
URA has also intensified tax recoveries through legal measures, collecting UGX186 billion from arrears management and alternative dispute resolution, and UGX274 billion from completed cases.
Customs enforcement operations recovered UGX41 billion, below the UGX61 billion target, again affected by election-related disruptions.
Looking ahead, URA is preparing to manage the expected oil and gas revenue, ensuring systems and staff are ready to handle the new inflows.
“We are preparing the petroleum oil and gas solutions. We’re expecting oil to start flowing but this is the next financial year, the end of the calendar year and we need to prepare adequately so that when the oil revenue comes, we have a system which can manage it,” Kugonza said.
He also highlighted ongoing reforms to strengthen compliance and improve efficiency, including dispute resolution mechanisms and staff capacity building initiatives.
“We are operationalising the tax academy, competence-based programmes and change management. Chair has highlighted, we have increased the number of staff, we have recruited, they need capacity building and it is cost effective to be trained through our tax academy where we have competencies and within the confines of the tax programmes,” he added.
