By Mulengera Reporters
A whistle blower, seeking to cash in on the statutory commission, has volunteered what he claims to be information that could aid efforts by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to recover colossal sums of money relating to three tax heads-namely rental income tax, VAT and Pay as You Earn off staff remuneration.
The whistle blower’s information, according to URA insiders, relates to a company called Gulf Stream Investments Uganda Ltd, a Mukwano Group subsidiary, which owns and manages Kololo-based Acacia Plaza Limited, which officially is registered as being the owners of Acacia Mall. The property in question is located on Plots 8-12, 14-18 Kisimenti-Kololo.
The directors are disclosed to include Karmali Semin, Karmali Alykhan and Mukwano Industries (U) Ltd. Available correspondences indicate that the aggrieved whistle blower has, in writing, invited URA to establish the extent to which the business in question has been complying with the relevant tax obligations relating to rental income tax since 2014, VAT and PAYE since September 2010. Ugx4m used to be paid in monthly pay, the whistle blower claims.
“The property is now managed by Gulfstream Investment Uganda Limited with the same directors mentioned above,” the whistle blower partly tips URA’s Tax Investigations Department in one of his many email exchanges over this same matter. The whistle blower advises URA to secretly contact some of the mall tenants in the course of investigations, in order corroborate his claims.
Some of the relevant correspondences this news website has glanced upon indicate that the outstanding tax liability, whose finality is still being ascertained, could go as high as Ugx4,004,340,352. The tax body is already in touch with the company top executives in order to establish if they have any objections to the impending final assessment.
Thereafter, a team of URA staffers who have been assigned to handle this dispute will move into the recovery process so that whatever is due to the GoU gets recovered to enable the NRM government facilitate the development and socio-economic transformation of the country. The tax dispute is being ascertained under the reference no. ID012141515533 of Gulf Stream Investments (U) Ltd. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
