CPA Perpetua Kabaitira Biraaro,
Member of the Public Sector Panel,
Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda
Uganda sits among what the World Bank classifies as Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs); these are countries in a transitional phase of development characterised by rapid economic growth, industrialisation, and increased integration into global markets but with lower income levels, higher risks, and less mature financial systems compared to advanced economies. This classification matters because it shapes the revenue challenge: rapid growth raises expectations for public services, but the systems to capture that growth in the fiscal net often lag behind.
Every conversation about Uganda's development eventually runs into the same wall: where does the money come from? This question is, at its core, asking about domestic revenue mobilisation. Simply put, domestic revenue mobilisation is how a government funds itself from within, through taxes, fees, royalties, and charges; rather than through borrowing or aid.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) frames it as building the capacity to raise revenue efficiently, fairly, and sustainably. Each of those three words deserves weight. Efficiently, because leakage and administrative waste are themselves a revenue problem. Fairly, because who bears the burden of financing the state is a choice with economic consequences. Sustainably, because measures that yield this year but shrink the base next year are not solutions.
Domestic revenue consists of two streams; tax revenue that includes income taxes, VAT, excise duties, customs duties and non-tax revenue, made up of fees, licenses, fines, dividends, royalties, and administrative charges.
In the current financial year 2025/26, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) projected the total domestic revenue at UGX 37 trillion; of which tax revenue is projected at UGX 33.94 trillion (91.2%) and non-tax revenue at UGX 3.29 trillion (8.8%). The government's approach to reaching the UGX 37 trillion target combines tax rate increases, new levies, enforcement tightening, and targeted relief.
Policy discussions about Uganda's revenue gap gravitate toward URA, EFRIS, TIN compliance, excise duty rates, and VAT coverage. These taxes are concentrated in the formal sector, which employs a fraction of the working population. The informal economy; that includes the boda boda rider, the market vendor, the small-scale farmer and the digital influencer contributes to economic activity but remains largely outside the tax net. It is, therefore, clear that we are trying to fund the country on a narrow base.
Our focus on taxation especially in the formal sector is understandable; tax revenue is the dominant stream and URA is the most visible institution. However, this has created a significant blind spot; non-tax revenue.
Non-tax revenue (NTR) is comprised of the fees, royalties, dividends, fines, permits, levies, and charges that the government collects by virtue of its regulatory authority, its ownership of natural assets, and its provision of public services. The UGX 3.29 trillion NTR projection for FY 2025/26 is just 8.8% of the total domestic revenue envelope; it does not reflect what the government is legally entitled to collect, but what the current system is capable of capturing.
Across virtually every NTR stream, the gap between what the government is legally entitled to collect and what actually arrives in the consolidated fund is substantial, poorly measured, and almost entirely absent from the mainstream revenue debate.
Multiple NTR streams, fee schedules have not been revised for a decade or more. The result is that the government is providing regulatory services, land administration, court access, and public permits at a fraction of their current economic value. The pattern is consistent, and the implication is direct: Uganda is operating a non-tax revenue system where the legal entitlement exists, but the economic value has been eroded by institutional inertia.
Uganda's economic landscape has shifted materially in the last decade. The rise of mobile money has created trackable transaction trails where there were none. The rollout of EFRIS — the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System — has begun to digitise the VAT chain. The growth of gig work, cross-border digital services, and platform-based commerce raises entirely new questions about where value is created and where it should be taxed. At the same time, Uganda stands on the threshold of oil production revenues — a source of fiscal potential, but also of fiscal risk, if the governance architecture around it is not ready.
Uganda cannot fund its development ambitions on a static revenue base. It cannot close the financing gap for infrastructure, health, education, and public safety by borrowing indefinitely.
Domestic revenue mobilisation is not a technical subject for specialists to manage behind closed doors. It is a national priority that requires engagement.
The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) has organised the 4th Public Finance Management Annual Conference from 6 – 7 May 2026, at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel, and Online, under the theme Strengthening Public Finance for Sustainable National Development. This conference is one of those rare moments where the ideas, evidence, and arguments that will shape policy are available to be heard, challenged, and improved.
Included in the conference program is a session on Domestic Revenue Mobilisation in emerging economies. This session will not be a lecture; it is designed to be a discussion that draws on the expertise of practitioners across the revenue value chain: those who design policy, those who implement it, those who audit it, and those who comply with it. Uganda cannot close its financing gap by taxing the same narrow base harder. This session asks what it would take to do something more durable.
All accounting officers, accounting and finance professionals, auditors, policymakers, planners, economists, development partners, civil society actors, parliamentarians, and PFM consultants are encouraged to attend this conference.
To be part of this conference, register via https://www.icpau.co.ug/icpau-events/4th-pfm-annual-conference
