The government is proposing an amendment to the Traffic and Road Safety ACT to introduce a new annual tax for private car owners.
According to the proposed amendment by Finance Minister Matia Kasaijja I will be criminal for anyone to own a motor vehicle that is not licenced on an annual basis.
βA person shall not own or possess a motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant or use it on the road unless the motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant is licenced under this Act,β the the proposal reads in part .
According to the Act, the licences will be obtained by application to the Chief Licencing Officer of government and such licence shall be valid until revoked.
Should one contravene the rules, they are liable to a fine of one hundred currency points or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.
βA person who possesses a motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant or uses it on the road, shall pay an annual fee on or before the 31st day of January of every year as may be prescribed by the minister of regulations,β the amendment suggests.
βWhere a person fails to pay a prescribed annual fee before or on the date specified in subsection (1) shall pay a penalty of ten currency points for each day on which the contravention continues and the unpaid fee shall be a debt to the government by the defaulter,β it continues.
Ugandans already pay multiple fees and an annual third-party insurance for their vehicles and the prosed new taxes is an additional load which experts say doesnβt help to widen the tax bracket but rather to burden A FEW Ugandans who are already paying heavy taxes.
Itβs not clear whether parliament will accept and approve the new proposed tax .
