The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is to launch a 24-hour mobile e-tax system which it says could bring in an extra Ush100 billion a year in tax payments.

Ugandans will be able to pay their taxes from their mobile phones without having to physically visit a bank, thanks to the system that will be introduced through a partnership with Orient Bank and Warid Telecom..

The move to collect taxes with the help of mobile phones comes as a growing number of people in that country have access to these devices.

The mobile penetration rate in Uganda has hit 40% – or 14.6 million connections - and is predicted by market researchers Budde Communications to reach 55% by year-end.

The URA is also under pressure to find more ways of collecting revenues, as it has been reporting regular shortfalls in taxation.

“The system is intended to make it easier for the tax payers to fulfil their tax obligations,” said URA commissioner general Allen Kagina.

“We expect, therefore, that not only shall we collect more revenue and more tax payers coming on board, but those who have been finding it difficult to come forward will now easily do so through their mobile handsets,” Kagina added.

Moses Kabuji, the commissioner of domestic taxes, said he believed the system could collect between Ush10 billion and Ush20 billion per month and more than Ush100 billion annually.

The e-tax platform is also the latest way that mobile money has been utilised in order to make financial transactions easier for East Africans.

Kagina said that the URA was innovating in order to keep pace with the continuously changing way of doing business in East Africa.

“We are moving away from the conventional way of doing things because business is changing very fast and if we are to continue giving a service, then we must continually innovate,” she said.

Orient Bank managing director Maxwell Ibeanous said the greater number of Ugandans with access to mobiles over physical banks would lead to greater accessibility.

“The innovation would reduce on congestion at the banks and would help those far from banks to receive the same service as those in urban centres,” he said.