Auditor-General Demands Shs2 Trillion Forensic Tax Audit on Uganda Telecom Companies Over Revenue Discrepancies.

The Auditor-General, Mr John Muwanga, has asked the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to conduct a forensic audit into the affairs of telecommunications companies, citing a potential revenue loss of nearly Shs2 trillion. In his report for the financial year ended December 31, 2023, which was submitted to Parliament last week, Mr Muwanga indicated that the audit should cover the period between 2018 and 2023. The recommendation stems from a review of the URA’s performance, which revealed significant discrepancies between the provisional financial results submitted by telecom companies to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the final audited financial statements they filed with the URA.“I noted significant variances ranging from 13 percent to 43 percent between the provisional incomes declared to UCC and the final audited incomes declared to URA for the five-year period from 2018 to 2023,” Mr Muwanga’s report reads in part. He added: “The variances in declared incomes have a negative effect on the taxes paid by the telecommunication companies to URA. I recommended that the commissioner general [of URA] conducts a forensic audit to verify the correct taxes from the telecommunication companies.”The report indicates that the telecoms declared provisional gross revenues of Shs54.

49 trillion to UCC for the period under review. However, the final audited gross revenues declared to URA amounted to only Shs46.69 trillion. This variance of Shs7.8 trillion in declared revenue, according to the Auditor-General, directly impacts the taxes collected. He estimates that the government may have lost Shs1.956 trillion in taxes over the five years due to these discrepancies. The taxes affected include Corporation Tax, Withholding Tax, Value Added Tax (VAT), and Pay As You Earn (PAYE). The Auditor-General’s analysis shows that the telecom sector is a major contributor to the treasury, having paid a total of Shs7.05 trillion in taxes over the five-year period. However, his findings suggest this figure should have been significantly higher. This is not the first time the Auditor-General has raised concerns about potential revenue losses from the telecom sector. Similar issues were highlighted in his report for the financial year ended June 30, 2020. In a previous audit covering the period from 2010 to 2020, a variance of Shs19 trillion was identified between revenues declared to UCC and those declared to URA, pointing to a long-standing issue.