Kitenga Sub- county leaders in Mubende District say Born Again churches are in business, and ought to pay taxes like other businesses to enable the sub-county get more revenue, the Daily Monitor Reports.
“There is a very strong case for taxing Born-again churches, and this could be one of the ways of expanding our tax base. We are going to have further consultations on this,” Mr Edward Gamaba, the Kitenga Sub- county chairman told the Newspaper, with Mr Bakine Apolonali, the chairman Sala village, adding that his village alone has seven Born-again churches and pastors collect ‘millions during the services.’
The proposal is reported to have been prompted by the mushrooming churches in the area, which they say make a lot of money through collecting offertory, tithe and special prayer sessions.
Church leaders in this area have however responded to the claims saying that such a move on churches is an insult.
The Uganda Revenue Authority has not yet confirmed or responded to this report.
With an apparent task of widening the tax base, which remains below the sub saharan average, the Uganda Revenue Authority was asked by the President to increase the tax to GDP ratio to at least 20 per cent by 2020.
This means the tax body would have to increase its collections from Shs11.2 trillion to Shs34 trillion. In this, Mr Museveni challenged URA to tap into the informal sector to widen the tax base.
