The Vision Group has been recognized with the Uganda Revenue Authority Tax Appreciation Award for its efforts in Tax Education. Founded in 1...
The Vision Group has been recognized with the Uganda Revenue Authority Tax Appreciation Award for its efforts in Tax Education.
Founded in 1986, New Vision Printing and Publishing Corporation Ltd stands as Uganda's top multimedia enterprise, holding a strong position in print, broadcasting, and online media.
During the annual Thanksgiving events, John Musinguzi Rujoki, the URA Commissioner General, announced the award on Friday, November 21, stating that NVPPC Ltd has utilized all its media channels to spread awareness about the significance of tax payment.
"Every Thursday, they send questions to the Commissioner General through the New Vision newspaper, which are then answered and shared across all their media platforms for the benefit of the tax-paying public," Musinguzi stated in a citation that came before the award.
Vision Group also conducts weekly tax awareness initiatives in the Bukedde Newspaper, which is printed in Luganda, a language commonly used in the central region.
The Bukedde newspaper began featuring these URA segments in 2017. Seven months back, the New Vision newspaper adopted the same initiative.
Don Wanyama, the chief executive officer of Vision Group, who received the award, thanked URA for its work in collecting taxes and for the acknowledgment.
"We thank URA for the collaboration and for acknowledging our work in tax education. We commit to furthering our efforts with them, aiming to enhance our economy," he stated, emphasizing that communication plays a vital role in tax compliance.
Thanksgiving:Musinguzi described the thanksgiving ceremony as an agreement involving our God, our nation, and its citizens.
"It signifies the peak of the intentional journey under the theme 'Together Building Uganda.' For twenty years, URA has conducted taxpayer appreciation seasons, representing our dedication to transparency and national collaborations," he stated.
He disclosed that the annual event, which started with a small group of approximately 200 attendees on Friday, saw the taxpayer appreciation season draw over 120,000 individuals.
"He added that, which reflects an increased awareness of our country's progress as a collective duty," he said.
"The current season has been impressive in its scope and goals, and the theme of constructing Uganda collectively serves as a strategic reminder that the modern economy we all desire cannot be achieved solely by the government, but requires shared responsibility, dedication, and vision," he stated.
"We relocated across the country to our respective regional partners, organized various integrity meetings, and used this opportunity to listen, learn, and acknowledge our exceptional players within the various communities, while also connecting and reinforcing our mutual support," he stated.
Musinguzi mentioned that integrity forums play a crucial role in URA's objectives, and that a robust revenue system is based on ethical behavior.
He mentioned that during the previous financial year, URA managed to collect 31.6 trillion shillings, surpassing the target of 31.3 trillion shillings, with a growth of 16.8% compared to the prior year.
"However, in the past five years, we have maintained a year-on-year growth of approximately 13%. In the last fiscal year, our revenue collection nearly doubled, rising from roughly sh16 trillion to sh31.6 trillion," he stated.
Comparable expansion, he mentioned, has been recorded in the tax registry, indicating that URA is also increasing the tax base.
Nevertheless, although there has been substantial growth, we are only covering roughly half of our national budget, and our tax-to-GDP ratio remains around 14%. This shortfall hinders our capacity to fully finance our infrastructure, education, healthcare, and the overall development plan needed for Uganda to become a genuinely economically independent nation.
Bishop Joshua Lwere, who delivered an intense sermon on ethics in tax adherence, stated that those engaged in corruption will face continuous challenges until they lose all the funds they have unlawfully taken from the country's resources.
Key moments during Thanksgiving were the URA employee contribution of sh120 million to Bulibandi Primary School. The funds will support the building of a classroom complex.
Additional recipients of the Tax Appreciation awards were MTN, Uganda Breweries, and Tororo Cement, along with other entities.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
