Why MPs shouldn’t be exempted from tax

By Emily A. Onyas
Posted 


Friday, April 29  

2016 at 

01:00

April has been an eventful month with Ugandans waking up to eyebrow-raising news every other day. But nothing prepared us for the eye catching headline of our 10th Parliament amending the Income Tax Act so as to get exempted from paying taxes on their allowances.

I was utterly shocked and dismayed that the leaders elected to represent and serve Ugandans not so long ago are shamelessly planning to dodge taxes on the pretext that their allowances are greatly lessened when taxed, leaving them with meagre income to discharge their duties as mandated by the law. Our dear Members of Parliament forget that all taxable employees in Uganda who earn a basic salary and an allowance are taxed.

We should be reminded that taxation is compulsory meaning it is not negotiable and hence a burden distributed because as able citizens of this great nation, we should be patriotic enough to contribute towards supporting the government and its activities in proportion to one’s abilities. This is clearly where our Members of Parliament need a lesson on as this would fulfill one of the primary canons of taxation enunciated by Adam Smith which is equality.

What would it mean for our nation if the amended Bill is passed for the Members of Parliament to get exempted from paying taxes on their allowances?

Other citizens would also want the Income tax Act amended so as to get exempted. At the end of the day, we are all making a living and providing a service for the greater good of this country so we should all get exempted alike. Also, Members of Parliament are not more important than Ugandan citizens.

Each Member of Parliament earns more than Shs 20 million in salary and a lot in more in allowances as regards to food, housing, fuel, airtime, and travel, inter alia and thus contributes about Shs9 million monthly in Income Tax.

The 10th Parliament currently has 458 legislators, the biggest number we’ve ever had and whose salaries and allowances will be financed from taxes. Altogether, Uganda Revenue Authority would lose over Shs41 billion monthly in Income Tax and when we do the maths on how much would be lost yearly, the amount is a staggering sum that we cannot be blind to.

Shs41 billion can do a great deal for this country. It’s a yearly budget for some districts, it can build schools, am sure we want our children to have better education facilities. Hospitals could be supplied with medical materials and more structures could be built, the transport network needs constant maintenance so do other systems in the country that all need money to run efficiently.

With so many questions that go unanswered, I will ask one final one, could the August House have at least one legislator who has a conscience on the repercussions of the decisions that affect the population of our beloved country Uganda?
Emily A. Onyas,
Prospective student, MBA