Consulting – MRT Tax

Government Contract Bidding in Uganda: Key Tax Considerations for Bidders and Contractors.

Having regard to the sector, nature and scale of a taxpayer’s commercial activities, a government contractor, an investor trying to structure a government contracting arm of an existing business, might need to try to appreciate the Tax Exemptions regime and how it applies to both their existing and future contracts with the government, across the different tax heads.

When bidding for government contracts in Uganda, one of the most critical but often overlooked areas of tax due diligence is the identification and navigation of tax advantages available to the contractor, in the form of exemptions and reduced duty rates under the different tax heads.

The proper utilisation of exemptions not only ensures tax compliance but also creates direct tax savings that can materially influence the competitiveness of a bid and ultimately, the profitability of the project.

Uganda’s Real Estate Sector Faces Heightened Tax Scrutiny

Commercial activities in Uganda’s Real Estate sector have not been subjected to the same level of tax scrutiny as other lucrative industries, largely due to the informal character of the bulk of transactions and real estate activities generally.

We now expect more audits in the Real Estate Sector and transactions that have since been concluded and those to be concluded going forward.

And so Taxpayers in real estate may now need to take steps to fully formalize their activities for compliance purposes under the different tax heads.

Uganda’s FY 2025/26 Budget: A Filtered Tax Guide.

This commentary provides a tax guide through a practitioner’s lens on key tax policy measures and budget implications, emphasizing the following policy propositions in the Minister’s Speech.
Penalty waivers on interest and tax arrears, Tax exemptions for Start-Ups, Domestic revenue mobilization and Tax enforcement implications of the planned revenue mobilization measures. The guide further distills the speech and highlights key takeaways on what entrepreneurs, and business leaders at the helm of startups, SMEs and large businesses need to know, particularly on Tax waivers, Tax exemptions, planned Reduction in domestic borrowing, Reduction of domestic arrears and Investments in oil and gas and Infrastructure. Read on below;

A CORPORATE GOVERNANCE MASTERCLASS FOR ENTREPRENEURS FROM THE HUMPHREY NZEYI v BoU CASE.

While shareholders own the company, they DO NOT own the assets of the company. The assets they own are the shares allotted to them. The company owns its assets. Conversely, the shareholders are not the managers of the company. They must first become directors in law for them to exercise managerial roles.

The directors(the Managers) owe a fiduciary duty to the company as ‘a whole’. This fiduciary duty requires directors to act in good faith and in the long-term interests of the entity, balancing the interests of both shareholders and creditors.

This is because the total assets of a company are composed of shareholder equity+liabilities (i.e. creditor interests). For the section of my readership without an accounting background, in law this is the starting point of the accounting equation. The company as a legal entity is therefore subject to these two competing legal(or equitable) claims.

The directors’ duty to act in the company’s best interests logically includes the obligation to weigh and balance these interests at all times.

When a company enters financial distress, the law demands that the board begin to prioritize the interests of creditors alongside those of shareholders and certain transactions are outright void at law in extreme circumstances where this principle is breached.

Good Corporate governance and Board composition matters. A competent, diverse board is better equipped to navigate financial stress and generally, the intricate market and regulatory dynamics in which the company operates. Ensure you have a blend of directors with expertise in risk, tax, legal, and operations as opposed to just investors, friends or family members.

AI’s Disruption of Professional Services: The Rise of Niche Expertise.

The market now favors firms and individuals who deeply understand specific domains or sectors rather than generalists trying to do everything. A “niche within a niche” allows consultants to become irreplaceable for a defined audience or challenge set.

AI may also have provided the easy answer to the all important career decision question for senior consultants and executives in larger legacy firms; Which is whether to choose boutique independence over the politics, processes, and layers of bureaucracy that come with being part of a large firm