Traders in Kampala have requested the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to carry out more sensitization on the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS) before they adapt to it.

Katongole Godfrey, the Chairman of Kampala Arcades Traders Association (KATA), said while speaking on one of the national televisions on April 16, 2024, that they need to know what EFRIS is all about and how it works before adapting to it.

“We are not against the EFRIS system; we just have not understood how the system works. We also need to know how the system can be of importance to us, and we are therefore requesting URA to do more sensitization for the traders,” he said.

Pamela Natamba, the Partner and Head of Tax at Price Water House Coopers (PwC Uganda), said that they are facing the challenge of traders failing to understand the system.

“People have not understood EFRIS, and that’s a challenge. If the sensitization through TVs has not worked, let’s try another method, but more sensitization is needed,” Natamba said.

“EFRIS is the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot that has been going on, and the traders need to understand taxes and know that EFRIS is just a mechanism. Do they understand that?” Natamba added.

Twaha Kayondo, a Domestic Tax Officer at URA, noted that there is a need to reach out to everyone but refuted the allegations that URA has not done any sensitization.

“We might indeed not have reached everyone, but it is not true that we are sleeping. We have been online, on different TVs, and also set up mobile clinics to sensitize people about EFRIS,” Kayondo said.

He added that the traders know that EFRIS is not a tax because URA has been using it for a while, adding that it benefits both the traders and URA.

On April 9, 2024, a group of petitioners led by the Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA), which includes the traders in different arcades and shops in Kampala, called for Parliament’s intervention in the taxation system enforced by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).