Tax planning in Uganda: pay what the law requires, and not a shilling more
Tax planning means arranging your affairs, lawfully, so you don't pay more tax than you have to: before a big purchase, a new contract, a payout to owners or the year end. The law draws a clear line between planning and avoidance, and we stay on the right side of it. We show you the options, with the numbers.
What is tax planning, and is it legal?
Tax planning is choosing, before you act, the way of doing something that the law taxes least. Timing a purchase so capital allowances count this year, deciding how owners are paid, or structuring a contract so withholding and VAT are handled correctly are all planning.
It's legal when the arrangement is real and has a genuine purpose. Hiding income is evasion, a crime. And Uganda's Income Tax Act lets URA set aside arrangements made mainly to avoid tax. Good planning stays well inside those lines, and is written down.
What this costs you every month it waits
- Capital allowances and reliefs left unclaimed, year after year
- Transactions structured expensively when a lawful cheaper route existed
- Owner remuneration set up in the most-taxed possible way
- Growth decisions (new branch, new company, new asset) taken tax-blind
The cost of waiting: Planning only works in advance. Once the year closes, the transaction signs, or the audit opens, most options are gone — the difference between planning and regret is usually a few months.
Three steps. Zero guesswork.
We review
A structured review of your returns, accounts and plans for the next 12–24 months. We map every position against the reliefs available.
We plan
You receive a written plan: each opportunity quantified in shillings, each risk flagged, each recommendation grounded in the law.
We implement
We work with you (and your accountant or lawyer) to implement — then review annually, because the law changes every Finance Act.
A few questions. Your starting figure.
Planning is scoped to the size and complexity of what we're planning — and judged against the savings it finds.
Licensed Tax Agent, registered with TARC under URA · Helping clients since 2012 · Rated 4.7 on Google
Tax Planning Review
Tell us about the business and what's ahead. A senior adviser will scope the opportunity — candidly. Tell us the decision and when it happens. If planning will pay, we book a free 20-minute call, then quote the planning review in writing.
- Reviewed personally by a licensed tax agent
- Plain-language answer — what you owe, what it costs to fix
- Reply within one business day (Mon–Fri)
Common questions
Arranging your affairs before you act so that, within the law, you pay no more tax than you have to.
Yes, when the arrangement is genuine and has a real purpose. Evasion is a crime, and URA can set aside arrangements made mainly to avoid tax. We only recommend planning that stands up.
Before the decision: buying assets, signing contracts, paying owners, or reaching the year end.
Salary, dividends and loans are taxed differently, and each has paperwork. We compare them for your figures.
Then transfer pricing applies. Dealings with related companies outside Uganda, of any size, and within Uganda above UGX 500M a year, need documentation showing they are at arm's length. Without it the penalty is UGX 50M or 2% of the tax involved, whichever is higher, and since August 2026 the burden of proof is expressly on you. We prepare the documentation, from UGX 50,000,000 in the first year.
Yes. Income from a business started by a citizen after 1 July 2025, with registered capital up to UGX 500M, is exempt from income tax for 3 years, if the conditions hold throughout: ownership, capital, no earlier use by you or your associates, and the right returns filed. Breaking them makes all the tax due. We set it up correctly and keep it safe for the 3 years.
Capital allowances depend on the asset and the timing. Planning the purchase can bring the tax relief forward.
It starts with a free 20-minute call, booked when you have a decision coming. The planning review is then UGX 750,000 for an individual, UGX 1,500,000 for a company with turnover up to UGX 500M, and from UGX 2,500,000 for larger companies and groups, credited against putting the plan in place. Transfer pricing documentation starts from UGX 50,000,000. A yearly refresh is 60% of the first review, and included for retainer clients.
A written view of your current position and the options, with the tax cost of each.