Govt spending rises as URA records sh468b shortfall
Expenses on social benefits and the other expenses category were also higher than programmed for the month.
Tax collections amounted to sh2,081.30 billion, which was sh138.36 billion short of the sh2,219.66 billion target for February as all major tax categories registered shortfalls during the month.
Umar Kashaka
Journalist @New Vision
KAMPALA - The Government increased spending on public services last month (February) as Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) registered a shortfall of sh468.33 billion.
The Ministry of Finance’s performance of the economy report for February said expenses by the Government amounted to sh2,843.43 billion against the planned expenditure of sh2,820.85 billion, representing a performance rate of 100.8%.
“The more than planned expenses during the month were on account of higher grants to local governments, tertiary institutions and regional referral hospitals as the Government continues with its commitment towards service delivery,” it said.
Expenses on social benefits and the other expenses category were also higher than programmed for the month.
“Total expenses on compensation of employees for the month were lower than planned mainly on account of allowances. However, wages and salaries were slightly higher than programmed during February on account of supplementary expenditures passed for this item,” the report said.
Sh468b shortfall
Total revenue in February amounted to sh2,382.76 billion against the target of sh2,851.10 billion, which resulted in a shortfall of sh468.33 billion.
The report said this shortfall was registered under both tax and other revenues as well as grants from development partners.
Tax collections amounted to sh2,081.30 billion, which was sh138.36 billion short of the sh2,219.66 billion target for February as all major tax categories registered shortfalls during the month.
The biggest shortfall of sh96.17 billion was registered under taxes on international trade transactions, where lower than projected petroleum imports during the month affected petroleum duty collections.
Additionally, the projected imports on which Value Added Tax (VAT) is charged turned out lower, leading to less collection of VAT on imports during the month, the report said.
Taxes on incomes, profits and capital gains were also lower than target by sh35.58 billion during the month.
This was mainly due to the lower-than-anticipated collections of Pay As You Earn, driven by the private sector where a reduction in remittances from some top taxpayers was registered.
Net taxes on goods and services registered the least shortfall of sh5.44 billion with excise duty short of target by sh3.72 billion while net VAT was short by sh1.72 billion.