Finance Minister Henry Musasizi has urged newly recruited Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) officers to make integrity, professionalism and fairness central to their work as the government intensifies efforts to increase domestic revenue collection.
Musasizi made the call at a pass-out ceremony for 174 newly recruited URA staff who completed a one-month leadership training programme at the Oliver Reginald Tambo School of Leadership.
The minister told the graduates that their responsibility extends beyond collecting taxes, saying every interaction with taxpayers can influence public confidence in URA and government.
“Every interaction with a taxpayer is an opportunity to build trust in URA and in Government,” Musasizi said.
He urged the officers to exercise the authority entrusted to them responsibly and ensure that revenue administration is based on fairness, professionalism and integrity.
The minister also challenged the new recruits to help foster a culture in which Ugandans understand taxation as part of financing the country’s development.
Revenue mobilisation remains a government priority
The training comes as the government seeks to raise Uganda’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 20%, from about 14%.
The Ministry of Finance says Uganda’s nominal GDP reached Shs250.4 trillion in FY2025/26, while the tax-to-GDP ratio remained at about 14.3%. Tax collections increased from Shs16 trillion in FY2019/20 to Shs36 trillion in FY2025/26, but the low tax-to-GDP ratio continues to constrain the government’s fiscal space.
In July, the Ministry of Finance and URA agreed on a target of raising the tax-to-GDP ratio to 20% by FY2029/30, with Musasizi calling for measures to ensure taxpayers contribute their fair share.
The government has linked the increase in domestic revenue to efforts to reduce dependence on borrowing and create greater capacity to finance public investment from domestic resources.
Musasizi has previously said the government’s revenue mobilisation strategy will rely on measures including digital transformation, formalisation, improved coordination and changes to tax administration.
Technology and continuous learning
The minister urged the new URA officers to embrace technology and continuous professional development as the authority modernises tax administration.
He said their appointment should be viewed not as the end of their training but as the beginning of a broader responsibility to serve taxpayers and contribute to Uganda’s development.
The government has increasingly turned to digital tools and data integration as part of its efforts to expand the tax base, improve compliance and reduce revenue leakages.
Musasizi said stronger domestic revenue mobilisation would be critical to financing Uganda’s development ambitions while limiting excessive reliance on borrowing.
The new officers are therefore entering URA at a time when the institution faces pressure to increase collections while maintaining taxpayer confidence, fairness and professional standards.
