Traders in the eastern commercial district of Iganga joined their colleagues the rest of the country in a lockdown protest over the decision as new tax regimes takes the flak.
The traders closed down their shops today, paralysing business in Iganga, a busy trade centre for Busoga sub-region.
Traders countrywide are venting frustration with what they perceive as the government’s neglect of their concerns regarding the introduction of the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System (EFRIS).
EFRIS is an initiative introduced by Uganda Revenue Authority under its domestic revenue mobilisation programme to address the tax administration challenges relating to business transactions and issuance of receipts.
One of the traders, Saidi Mukova, who operates along Saza Road in Iganga Municipality, said they decided to join other traders in other parts of the country since the new tax has not been sensitized about its benefits and disadvantages.
“Under this system one needs to have the system known as EFRIS in order to pay taxes to revenue yet most of us traders are low income earners,” he said.
Mukova said URA would have first taken the initiative to sensitise traders about the way in which the system operates before imposing it instead of importing it from another country.