Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes Peer Reviews: Uganda 2016: Phase 2: Implementation of the Standard in Practice

114 Pages·2016·1.524 MB·English

by  Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development

Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information GLOBAL FORUM ON TRANSPARENCY AND EXCHANGE
for Tax Purposes
OF INFORMATION FOR TAX PURPOSES
PEER REVIEWS, PHASE 2: UGANDA
This report contains a “Phase 2: Implementation of the Standards in Practice” review,
as well as revised version of the “Phase 1: Legal and Regulatory Framework review”
already released for this country. Peer Review Report
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes is
the multilateral framework within which work in the area of tax transparency and exchange Phase 2
of information is carried out by over 130 jurisdictions which participate in the work
of the Global Forum on an equal footing.
Implementation of the Standard
The Global Forum is charged with in-depth monitoring and peer review of the implementation
of the standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes. in Practice
These standards are primarily refl ected in the 2002 OECD Model Agreement on Exchange
of Information on Tax Matters and its commentary, and in Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax
Convention on Income and on Capital and its commentary as updated in 2004, which has UGANDA
been incorporated in the UN Model Tax Convention.
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The standards provide for international exchange on request of foreseeably relevant er R
information for the administration or enforcement of the domestic tax laws of a requesting e
v
party. “Fishing expeditions” are not authorised, but all foreseeably relevant information ie
w
must be provided, including bank information and information held by fi duciaries, regardless R
e
of the existence of a domestic tax interest or the application of a dual criminality standard. p
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All members of the Global Forum, as well as jurisdictions identifi ed by the Global Forum t P
h
as relevant to its work, are being reviewed. This process is undertaken in two phases. a
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Phase 1 reviews assess the quality of a jurisdiction’s legal and regulatory framework 2
for the exchange of information, while Phase 2 reviews look at the practical implementation Im
p
of that framework. Some Global Forum members are undergoing combined – Phase 1 le
m
plus Phase 2 – reviews. The ultimate goal is to help jurisdictions to effectively implement e
n
the international standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes. ta
tio
All review reports are published once approved by the Global Forum and they thus represent n
o
agreed Global Forum reports. f th
For more information on the work of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange e S
of Information for Tax Purposes, and for copies of the published review reports, please visit ta
n
www.oecd.org/tax/transparency and www.eoi-tax.org. da
rd
in
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Consult this publication on line at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264266209-en. U
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This work is published on the OECD iLibrary, which gathers all OECD books, periodicals and A
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statistical databases. D
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Visit www.oecd-ilibrary.org for more information.
ISBN 978-92-64-26619-3
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23 2016 48 1 P

Global Forum
on Transparency
and Exchange
of Information for Tax
Purposes Peer Reviews:
Uganda 2016
PHASE 2:
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STANDARD IN PRACTICE
November 2016
(reflecting the legal and regulatory framework
as atAugust 2016)
ThisworkispublishedontheresponsibilityoftheSecretary-GeneraloftheOECD.
Theopinionsexpressedandargumentsemployedhereindonotnecessarilyreflect
theofficialviewsoftheOECDorofthegovernmentsofitsmembercountriesor
thoseoftheGlobalForumonTransparencyandExchangeofInformationforTax
Purposes.
Thisdocumentandanymapincludedhereinarewithoutprejudicetothestatusof
orsovereigntyoveranyterritory,tothedelimitationofinternationalfrontiersand
boundariesandtothenameofanyterritory,cityorarea.
Pleasecitethispublicationas:
OECD(2016),GlobalForumonTransparencyandExchangeofInformationforTaxPurposesPeer
Reviews:Uganda2016:Phase2:ImplementationoftheStandardinPractice,OECDPublishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264266209-en
ISBN978-92-64-26619-3(print)
ISBN978-92-64-26620-9(PDF)
Series:GlobalForumonTransparencyandExchangeofInformationforTaxPurposesPeerReviews
ISSN2219-4681(print)
ISSN2219-469X(online)
CorrigendatoOECDpublicationsmaybefoundonlineat:www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS – 3
Table of Contents
About the Global Forum                                             5
Abbreviations                                                      7
Executive summary                                                  9
Introduction                                                       13
Information and methodology used for the peer review of Uganda           13
Overview of Uganda                                               14
Compliance with the Standards                                       21
A. Availability of information                                        21
Overview                                                        21
A1 Ownership and identity information                               24
A2 Accounting records                                            52
A3 Banking information                                           60
B. Access to information                                             65
Overview                                                        65
B1 Competent Authority’s ability to obtain and provide information        66
B2 Notification requirements and rights and safeguards                  73
C. Exchanging information                                          75
Overview                                                        75
C1 Exchange of information mechanisms                              76
C2 Exchange of information mechanisms with all relevant partners         85
C3 Confidentiality                                                86
C4 Rights and safeguards of taxpayers and third parties                  89
C5 Timeliness of responses to requests for information                   91
PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – UGANDA © OECD 2016
4 – TABLE OF CONTENTS
Summary of determinations and factors underlying recommendations      97
Annex 1: Jurisdiction’s response to the review report                   101
Annex 2: List of all exchange-of-information mechanisms in force         103
Annex 3: List of all laws, regulations and other material consulted        108
PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – UGANDA © OECD 2016
ABOUT THE GLOBAL FORUM – 5
About the Global Forum
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for
Tax Purposes is the multilateral framework within which work in the area
of tax transparency and exchange of information is carried out by over
130 jurisdictions, which participate in the Global Forum on an equal footing
The Global Forum is charged with in-depth monitoring and peer
review of the implementation of the international standards of transpar-
ency and exchange of information for tax purposes These standards are
primarily reflected in the 2002 OECD Model Agreement on Exchange of
Information on Tax Matters and its commentary, and in Article 26 of the
OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and its commen-
tary as updated in 2004 The standards have also been incorporated into
the UN Model Tax Convention
The standards provide for international exchange on request of fore-
seeably relevant information for the administration or enforcement of the
domestic tax laws of a requesting party Fishing expeditions are not authorised
but all foreseeably relevant information must be provided, including bank
information and information held by fiduciaries, regardless of the existence
of a domestic tax interest or the application of a dual criminality standard
All members of the Global Forum, as well as jurisdictions identified by
the Global Forum as relevant to its work, are being reviewed This process is
undertaken in two phases Phase 1 reviews assess the quality of a jurisdic-
tion’s legal and regulatory framework for the exchange of information, while
Phase 2 reviews look at the practical implementation of that framework Some
Global Forum members are undergoing combined – Phase 1 and Phase 2 –
reviews The Global Forum has also put in place a process for supplementary
reports to follow-up on recommendations, as well as for the ongoing monitor-
ing of jurisdictions following the conclusion of a review The ultimate goal is
to help jurisdictions to effectively implement the international standards of
transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes
All review reports are published once approved by the Global Forum
and they thus represent agreed Global Forum reports
For more information on the work of the Global Forum on Transparency
and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, and for copies of the pub-
lished review reports, please refer to wwwoecdorg/tax/transparency and
wwweoi-taxorg
PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – UGANDA © OECD 2016

ABBREVIATIONS – 7
Abbreviations
AMATM ATAF Agreement on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters
AML Anti-Money laundering
ATAF African Tax Administration Forum
BOU Bank of Uganda
CDD Customer due diligence
EAC East African Community
CMA Capital Markets Authority
CTF Counter Terrorism Financing
DTC Double Tax Conventions
EOI Exchange of information
FATF Financial Action Task Force
FIA Financial Intelligence Authority
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development
SRL Society with Restricted Liability
TIEA Tax Information Exchange Agreement
TIN Tax Identification Number
URA Ugandan Revenue Authority
URSB Uganda Registration Services Bureau
PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – UGANDA © OECD 2016