Ugandan cabinet bars tax body from blanket access to bank client info

KAMPALA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan cabinet has instructed the country's tax body to stop asking commercial banks to provide bank details of all their clients.

The ministers decided on Monday that while Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has the legal mandate to access any person's bank account for tax audit and assessment, it should not be a blanket and general application to all people, including those who are complying well and paying their taxes, Minister of Information Frank Tumwebaze said in a statement on Tuesday.

"URA should target accounts of individuals who are a subject of tax investigation as has been the practice," Tumwebaze said.

The tax body is also advised to work and coordinate with the Financial Intelligence Authority, another government statutory body mandated to monitor all financial inflows.

The cabinet decision came after commercial banks, through their umbrella body, Uganda Bankers Association, protested URA demands, noting that their clients would sue them over privacy violation.

The URA had directed banks to offer information concerning all bank accounts held for the years 2016 and 2017, citing the Tax Procedures Act of 2014.

The country's president, Yoweri Museveni, recently accused the finance ministry of failing to explore new avenues for tax collection, prompting the ministry to respond with several new tax proposals. Enditem