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Eram Uganda v Uganda Revenue Authority (Taxation Application No 59 of 2018)

Tribunal · [2019] UGTAT 3 · 2019 Preliminary Objection Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Preliminary objection by respondent on non-payment of 30% deposit required under Tax Appeals Tribunal Act
Decision
Preliminary objection dismissed; matter to proceed to hearing

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Tribunal dismissed the respondent's preliminary objection that the applicant had not paid the mandatory 30% deposit of tax in dispute. The Tribunal held that where the tax authority had already recovered more than 30% of the disputed tax through set-off from a VAT refund, the requirement under section 15 of the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act was satisfied and the application could proceed.

Outcome

Preliminary objection dismissed; matter to proceed to hearing

Facts

The applicant lodged an application with the Tax Appeals Tribunal challenging a PAYE assessment of UGX 55,865,565. The respondent raised a preliminary objection that the applicant had not paid the mandatory 30% deposit (UGX 16,759,669) required under section 15 of the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act before the matter could proceed. The applicant responded that the respondent had already recovered the full amount of the disputed tax by setting it off against a VAT refund of UGX 56,374,700 that was due to the applicant, as evidenced by the respondent's letter dated 3 December 2018. The applicant argued that requiring a further 30% payment would result in paying 130% of the disputed amount.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicant was required to pay 30% of the tax in dispute before the matter could proceed to hearing before the Tax Appeals Tribunal.
  2. Whether the respondent's recovery of the full tax liability through set-off satisfied the 30% deposit requirement under section 15 of the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act.

Orders

  • Preliminary objection dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the applicant.

Rules and key headnotes

Tax Law — Tax Appeals Tribunal — Mandatory 30% Deposit — Recovery Through Set-Off
Where a tax authority has already recovered more than 30% of the disputed tax through set-off against amounts due to the taxpayer, the mandatory deposit requirement under section 15 of the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act is satisfied and the taxpayer need not make an additional payment.
Tax Law — Tax Appeals Tribunal Act — Section 15 — Mandatory Nature of 30% Deposit
The requirement under section 15 of the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act for a taxpayer to pay 30% of the tax in dispute or that part of the tax assessed not in dispute, whichever is greater, is mandatory.

Legislation cited (2)

  • Tax Appeals Tribunal Act s.15
  • VAT Act s.42(2)

Cases cited (5)

  • Samuel Mayanja v Uganda Revenue Authority (High Court Miscellaneous Cause No. 17 of 2005)
  • Elgon Electronics v Uganda Revenue Authority (High Court Civil Appeal No. 11 of 2007)
  • Uganda Projects Implementation and Management Centre v Uganda Revenue Authority (Constitutional Appeal No. 2 of 2009)
  • Metcash Trading Co. Ltd v Commissioner for South African Revenue Services and another
  • Makula International Limited v His Eminence Cardinal Nsubuga (Civil Appeal No. 4 of 1981)

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Eram Uganda v Uganda Revenue Authority (Taxation Application No 59 of 2018) 2019 UGTAT 3 (29 March 2019)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.