BUSINESS WOMEN IN ARUA CITY EMPOWERED ON TAX COMPILANCE

By Anslem Ojaru

Arua City

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has empowered business women in Arua city, aimed at recognising the role women entrepreneurs and business owners play in enhancing the country’s revenue.

During the engagement, more than 100 business women were educated on various tax categories, the taxation process, tax compliance and its significance.

The supervisor in charge of stakeholder relations URA Northern region Sanyu Claire reveals that the engagement is a strategy of bringing women together and strengthen their business compliance.

“People Have been empowered, we are laying more foundation stones for women to stand up and talk and defend their rights, by being armed with information, we are also explaining your taxes where do they go, so when we explain in such forum it is very important that women take charge, we are also marching the women who have been there with those who are growing to be there, the networking is very important have,” she said.

Daisy Aliwaru the campus dean of UNITE at Muni campus and one of participants appreciated the engagement saying it’s an eye opener for the women to contribute to the country’s development.

“Women in this city came to understand their rights, their mandate and their responsibility towards the country, I want to say that we learnt a lot in this engagement and what we learnt here is more than what we expected which to me has actually help to wipe out completely the fear of the women and those who have been paying taxes.”  

Christine Driciru a vendor in the market however urged URA to extend their knowledge to all the business women in the city.

“So when you tell me as URA to pay tax I feel like how can I pay this, because I don’t have the information about URA and some of us never went to school, we cannot read and write, so when you tell a women who never went to school to pay this tax, your register your business, you get the Tax Identification Number (TIN) number before sensitizing the woman at the grassroots, how will the woman answer you,” Driciru queried. 

To address the challenges that the women outlined, Sanyu revealed that they are planning to address a wider group of women operating business at Arua central market.

“I believe when we go to the central market for that intervention we are actually going to capture like 75% of the business women, we may not be all over for the engagement but we are going to be in a piece mill.”

The engagement was organized under the theme, “Make tax work for you” which focused on celebrating and recognizing the women’s contributions to the national development.