The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has reported a shortfall in its revenue collections for the second half of 2025, attributing the underperformance to disruptions caused by the 2026 elections. Between July and December, URA collected UGX16.476 trillion, falling short of the projected UGX17.5 trillion target.
The disclosure was made by Denis Kugonza Kateeba, Commissioner of Domestic Taxes at URA, while presenting the entity’s 2026/27 National Budget Framework Paper before Parliament’s Finance Committee.
“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 added that the Authority remains confident about recovering the deficit in the new fiscal cycle.
“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 also reported progress in collecting outstanding taxes through legal measures, with UGX186 billion recovered from arrears management and alternative dispute resolution, and UGX274 billion realised from completed cases.
Customs enforcement operations, which normally contribute significantly to revenue, generated UGX41 billion against a target of UGX61 billion. The lower-than-expected performance was also attributed to election-related disruptions, as enforcement activities were slowed to allow for citizen mobilisation.
Kugonza assured Parliament that URA is implementing strategies to strengthen compliance and boost revenue growth, 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 said.
Looking ahead, URA is also preparing to manage revenues from the petroleum sector.
“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.”
The Authority’s update underscores the dual challenge of managing revenue collection during political cycles while preparing systems and personnel for upcoming streams, including oil and gas, which are expected to boost the country’s fiscal capacity in the near future.
