Uganda Legislators to Block Tax on Mobile Money
Monday, May 7, 2018
By Joseph Kato
A section of Members of Parliament have threatened to block the proposed 1 per cent tax on the value of transaction on mobile money, saying it will discourage low income earners from using the service.
Speaking during the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG)’s breakfast meeting in Kampala yesterday, the legislators said mobile money is the cheapest way of doing transactions in hard-to-reach areas.
Soroti Woman MP (FDC) Angelline Asio Osegge said it was unthinkable that the government could propose taxes on mobile money which has provided employment to thousands of educated and uneducated youth and women.
“The 1 per cent tax on every transaction sounds small but if you are to equate it to the amount people transact on mobile money, it is very big. This tax is enough to make people shun using mobile money. That would mean thousands serving as mobile money agents are likely to lose jobs,” Ms Osegge said.
“We cannot let corrupt minds sitting in offices catered for using taxpayers’ money make life for ordinary citizens difficult,” she added.
Photo courtesy of Erik Hersman.
Source: Daily Monitor (link opens in a new window)
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