Last Updated on: 18th July 2023, 11:10 am
Gulu I Tears, joy, ululations – these were some of the blissful emotional displays that overwhelmed the prize winners at the ‘Mpa E-receipt Yange’ campaign launch in Gulu City by the Uganda Revenue Authority.
The campaign was meant to promote proper accountability and assessment of revenue collections through the issuance of electronic receipts and invoices.
Speaking to journalists at Gulu’s main market on Friday last week, Ambrose Omara, who won a motorbike, said the two-wheeled means of transport would ease his movement to his workplace.
“When I heard that I had won a motorbike. I could not believe it,” said Omara, who runs a retail and wholesale shop. “I am very happy that I have finally reaped something from paying taxes for many years.”
Cherotich Veni, a student, won a Samsung tablet phone. He said the device will enable her to complete her research thesis for her diploma course.
“I have been struggling to save money to buy a new phone which I needed badly to complete my research for my diploma,” said Cherotich as she smiled. “With this [smart] phone, it will be easy for me to do my research without any challenges.”
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Other winners included Valentine Zirabamuzaale, who won a laptop; Charles Odong and Calvin Oloya, who both received smartphones.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the event, Catherine Ayubo, the URA Station Head in Gulu, said the ‘Mpa e-receipt yange’ campaign is meant to encourage Ugandan taxpayers to embrace the culture of using e-receipting, adding that the practice will help boost revenue collections.
“I encourage every taxpayer to ask for e-receipts whenever they buy any product,” she said, adding that “it will [also] help people to generate bookkeeping records for their businesses”.
Ayubo also lauded taxpayers for “knowing their obligations as taxpayers,” adding the practice improved their revenue collections last year.
The “mpa e-receipt Yange’ is currently running under the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing solution (EFRIS), an initiative under the Domestic Revenue Mobilization Program.
EFRIS aims to address tax administration challenges relating to business transactions and the issuance of receipts.
The new smart business solution involves the use of e-invoicing through the URA web portal and direct communication with business transaction systems (system-to-system connection), electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) and Electronic Dispenser Controllers (EDCs) to manage the issuance of e-receipts and e-invoices.
Once a transaction is initiated using any of the EFRIS components, transaction details are automatically transmitted to URA in real-time (concurrently) to generate e-receipts and e-invoices. This helps to record business transactions and share the information with URA in real-time.
To be part of the draw participants of the campaign, taxpayers can download a “Mpa Receipt Yange ‘‘ app on Play Store or Apple Store to register and participate. The more receipts one loads, the more chances of winning.