1. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires
"aircraft" includes every description of craft used in aerial navigation; "assessment" means-
the ascertainment of excise duty under this Act;
the ascertainment of the amount of interest and any other amount payable by a person under this Act; or
a decision of the Commissioner which, under this Act, is subject to objection and appeal;
"Authority" means the Uganda Revenue Authority established by the Uganda Revenue Authority Act;
"beer" includes ale, porter, and any other description of beer and any liquor which is made or sold as a description of, or substitute for, beer and which contains more than two percent of proof spirit but does not include-
liquor as defined in the law relating to liquor; or
any kind of beer prescribed by regulations;
"cigar" means a cigar, cheroot, or cigarillo prepared from tobacco;
"cigarette" means a cigarette prepared from tobacco and includes any form of tip and the paper;
"citizen" means-
a natural person who is a citizen of a Partner State of the East African Community; or
a company or a body of persons incorporated under the laws of a Partner State of the East African Community in which at least fifty-one percent of the shares are held by a person who is a citizen of a Partner State of the East African Community;
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner General appointed under the Uganda Revenue Authority Act;
"currency point" has the value assigned to it in Schedule 1 to this Act;
"distiller" means a manufacturer of spirits by distillation of a fermented liquor or enguli or by any other process;
"distillery" means a distiller's factory;
"distiller's warehouse" means a place of security provided by a distiller and approved by the Commissioner under this Act;
"document" includes magnetic tapes, disks and microfilms;
"enguli" means a spirituous liquor including a drink containing liquor, which is conveyed into a receiver in a distillery entered under this Act as an enguli receiver;
"excisable goods" means goods manufactured in Uganda and imported into Uganda and specified in Schedule 2 to this Act but does include goods exempt from duty;
"excisable services" means the services specified in Schedule 2 to this Act;
"excise duty" means a duty imposed under this Act;
"export" means to take or cause to be taken out of Uganda;
"goods exempt from duty" means the goods specified in Schedule 3 to this Act;
"import", as used in relation to goods, has the meaning assigned to it in the Value Added Tax Act;
"importer", as used in relation to goods, has the meaning assigned to it in the Value Added Tax Act;
"manufacture" includes the production of excisable goods or any intermediate or uncompleted process in the production of excisable goods or the rectifying or denaturing of spirits;
"materials" means the goods from which excisable goods are capable of being manufactured and any residue from the process of manufacture;
"officer" includes a person, other than a labourer, employed in the service of the Authority and whose right or duty it is to require the performance of any act in this Act;
"over-the-top services" means the transmission or receipt of voice or messages over the internet protocol network and includes access to virtual private networks;
"own use", in relation to services, means applying the services for non-business use;
"owner" in respect of any excisable goods, materials, aircraft, vessel, vehicle, plant, or other thing, includes a person who is or holds himself or herself out to be the owner, manufacturer, agent or the person in possession of, or beneficially interested in, or having control of, or power of disposition over, such goods, materials, aircraft, vessel, vehicle, plant, or other thing;
"plant" includes utensils, presses, machinery, mills, implements, appliances and fittings;
"premises" includes a building, house, room or place;
"registered person" means a person registered to manufacture excisable goods, import excisable goods or to provide excisable services under this Act;
"rectifier" means a person who re-distills spirits removed from a spirits receiver for the purpose of purifying or adding flavour but does not include the re-distillation of enguli
"return" means a return of excise duty;
"specially denatured spirits" means spirits denatured in accordance with a formula prescribed by regulations made under this Act for specially denatured spirits;
"spirits" means spirits of any description and includes all liquor mixed with spirits and all mixtures and compounds or preparations made with spirits but does not include denatured spirits or engulv, "sugar" includes a saccharine substance, extract, or syrup, rice, flaked maize or any other description of com which in the opinion of the Commissioner is prepared in a manner similar to flaked maize and any other material capable of being used in brewing except malt, com, hops, hop concentrate or hop oil;
"supply" as used in relation to services, has the meaning assigned to it in the Value Added Tax Act;
"telecommunications services" means a service for the transmission, emission, or reception of signals, writing, images, sounds, or information of any kind by wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems and includes the related transfer or assignment of the right to use capacity for such transmission, emission, or reception, the provision of access to global or local information networks, but does not exclude a private network for the exclusive use of the person;
"Tribunal" means the Tax Appeals Tribunal established by the Tax Appeals Tribunals Act;
"value added services" means content, products or services offered in the telecom sector via the mobile platform and includes short messaging service and multimedia messaging service which afford the user flexibility in accessing other services including mobile betting, games, paying for services, products or promotions but does not include standard voice calls, peer to peer short messaging service and multimedia messaging service, fax transmission, internet, mobile money transactions and games promoted by a value added service provider licensed by the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board;
"value added tax" means value added tax imposed under the Value Added Tax Act;
"wash" means the fermented liquor from which spirits are produced by distillation;
"wine" means liquor of a strength not exceeding fifty degrees of proof which is made from fruit and sugar and which fruit or sugar is mixed with any other material and which had undergone a process of fermentation in its manufacture and includes mead.
Section analysis Source linked
This section supplies the definitions or statutory meaning governing “Interpretation”.
“In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires "aircraft" includes every description of craft used in aerial navigation; "assessment" means-”
Use this definition when interpreting other provisions that employ the language addressed by “Interpretation”.
Operative requirements extracted from the consolidated text.
- "Authority" means the Uganda Revenue Authority established by the Uganda Revenue Authority Act;
- "beer" includes ale, porter, and any other description of beer and any liquor which is made or sold as a description of, or substitute for, beer and which contains more than two percent of proof spirit but does not include-
- "cigar" means a cigar, cheroot, or cigarillo prepared from tobacco;
- "cigarette" means a cigarette prepared from tobacco and includes any form of tip and the paper;
- "citizen" means-
- "Commissioner" means the Commissioner General appointed under the Uganda Revenue Authority Act;
- "currency point" has the value assigned to it in Schedule 1 to this Act;
- "distiller" means a manufacturer of spirits by distillation of a fermented liquor or enguli or by any other process;
28 further items remain in the statutory text above.
Express propositions in source-matched passages from judgments citing this section.
No judgment in the current Wakilii corpus expressly cites this section. Bare rule-number references are not assigned where the Order cannot be verified.
No section-specific note is recorded. Act-level consolidation history:
- [Amended by Excise Duty (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 21 of 2020) on 27 November 2020]
- [Amended by Law Revision (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2023 (Act 17 of 2023) on 28 July 2023]
- [Amended by Excise Duty (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2023 (Act 24 of 2023) on 25 August 2023]
Act-level history only · Do not infer that every amendment changed this section