Taxation law

Kasampa Kalifani v Uganda Revenue Authority ((HCT-00-CV-CS-0579-2007)) [2009] UGHC 130 (10 August 2009);

Flynote: 

Search Summary: 

The plaintiff’s claim against the defendant is for a sum of Shs.207,335,380/= being outstanding balance due to the plaintiff as informer’s fees.

 

At the conferencing, the following facts were agreed upon by the parties:

  1. The plaintiff gave the defendant information regarding under declaration of Tax to Uganda Revenue Authority by Tororo Cement Industries Ltd.
  2. The defendants subsequently collected the under declared taxes from the said Tororo Cement Industries Ltd.
  3. The plaintiff was paid Shs.199,910,000/= as informer’s reward.
  4. The defendant collected a sum of Shs.4,072,453,800/= only being the under declared withholding tax.
  5. The recovered amount included interest of Shs.2,147,593,800/=.

 

Court considered whether the plaintiff was entitled to 10% of the whole amount recovered and held that If a person failed to pay tax imposed under the Statute on or before the due date, he was liable to pay a penal tax on the un paid tax at the rate specified in the law.  In the instant case the penal tax was assessed at Shs.2,147,593,800.=. The amount which was collected from the tax defaulter as a result of the plaintiff’s information to the defendant was Shs.4,072,453,800/= and it included the said penal tax of Shs.2,147,593,800/=.  The defaulter did not contest the amount.  It therefore became payable by the said defaulter and it was indeed recovered from them.  In the context of Section 136 (6) of the Income Tax Act, ibid, the total sum of Shs.4,072,453,800/= because the tax due and recoverable from the defaulter from which the informant was entitled to his cut of 10%.

Headnote and Holding: 

Court held that if the legislature had intended that payments of the 10% be calculated on what the defendant now refers as the principal tax, the legislature would have expressly said so.

 

In view of the court’s finding that he is entitled to 10% of the total amount collected, he made out a case for the grant to him of this relief.  The amount is decreed to him.

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