The new URA tax filing deadline 2021 for returns of December 2020 has been announced by URA (Uganda Revenue Authority). The original deadline that was set for 15th January 2021 has now been pushed to 20th January 2021 as the government body announced on its website yesterday and on its social media pages on various platforms.
Also read: 5 great features in URA’s Electronic Fiscal Reporting and Invoicing system.
The new URA tax filing deadline 2021 comes after the unforeseen 5 day internet shutdown that the government imposed nation wide on Wednesday 13th January 2021 that interrupted many activities that operate solely online.
Even after the internet was partially restored on Monday 18th January, many taxpayers asked for at least a week to be able to file their returns as the restored internet is quite slow which could make the process more difficult than usual.
URA statement on new URA tax filing deadline 2021 of returns
Ian Rumanyika, Manager Public and Corporate Affairs at URA said that the deadline had been extended to allow business owners and institutions file their returns as the government body understands that many tax payers couldn’t carry out the process due to circumstances out of their control.
He went on to say that as much as the new deadline has been set for 20th January, those who fail to file their returns on the given date will not face any penalties or interest for late filing.
This should give affected companies and business owners ample time to make up for the time that was lost last week.
URA generates hundreds of billions of shillings on a monthly basis from taxes like VAT (Value Added Tax), withholding tax, PAYE (Pay As You Earn) and among others that are included in the filing of tax Returns process.
This just goes on to join the list of the impacts of the internet blackout that has affected the economy in devastating ways as URA joins other online businesses that stand to lose billions because of no internet access that caused interruptions.
The internet has become a backbone for many Ugandans’ businesses especially because of the pandemic that caused restrictions causing many to divert their business operations online. As a result of the internet blackout that was imposed as a security measure, the economy has lost about shs32.9 billion since many businesses came to a stand still for the 5 days that internet access was cut off.
READ: Shs32.9 billion lost in Uganda’s internet shutdown in 2021.