Africa > Uganda
Abstract
Value-added tax, or VAT, first introduced less than 50 years ago, is now a pivotal component of tax systems around the world. The rapid and seemingly irresistible rise of the VAT is probably the most important tax development of the latter twentieth century, and certainly the most breathtaking. Written by a team of experts from the IMF, this book examines the remarkable spread and current reach of the innovative tax and draws lessons about the design and implementation of the VAT, as experienced by different countries around the world. How efficient is it as a tax, is it fair, and is it suitable for all countries? These are among the questions raised. This highly informative and well-researched book also looks at the likely future of the tax.
This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix analyzes poverty and social development in Uganda. The paper reviews recent poverty and inequality trends, examines how poor people are coping with risk and vulnerability, analyzes the relationship between economic growth, structural reform and poverty, and describes the government policies in these areas. The paper also provides a brief overview of major institutional developments in Uganda’s financial sector since 1993 with regard to the legal, accounting, and general regulatory framework in which financial institutions operate.
This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix describes how to improve value-added tax (VAT) compliance in Uganda. The paper highlights that although the VAT in Uganda has a single positive rate and broad coverage, its initial threshold of U Sh 20 million may have been set too low, and a number of items that should have been exempted were zero rated. This paper presents a brief survey of the financial sector of Uganda. Public sector reforms and the privatization program are also discussed.