URA audit in Uganda: what it is, what URA looks at, and how to respond
A URA audit checks whether your tax returns match your records and what URA knows from other sources. It can be a short desk audit or a full review across several years. What you send, and how you answer, shapes the result. We manage the audit with you, from the first letter to closure.
Audit rules in four facts
- Five years: URA can audit up to five years back, and you must keep records for at least five years.
- Any tax head: audits can cover income tax, VAT, PAYE and withholding tax, together or separately.
- 45 days to object after you receive an assessment.
- Third-party data: URA compares your returns with bank, EFRIS and other information it already holds.
Sources: Tax Procedures Code Act; URA objection and appeals guidance. Checked October 2026.
What this costs you every month it waits
- Assessments issued on URA's assumptions when responses are late or weak
- Penalties layered onto every adjustment the audit sustains
- Audit scope expanding into other years and other tax heads
- Escalation from audit to investigation where conduct raises suspicion
The cost of waiting: Audit timelines are statutory and short. Every deadline missed narrows your options — and an unanswered audit becomes an assessment, which becomes enforcement. If you have a letter, the clock is already running.
Three steps. Zero guesswork.
We assess
Review of the audit letter within one business day and your records. You get an honest exposure estimate and a defence strategy before URA hears a word from you.
We respond
Every submission prepared and quality-controlled by us. Every meeting attended with you or for you. Every deadline met, every position documented.
We resolve
We negotiate the findings down to what the evidence actually supports, settle penalties and terms, and obtain written closure.
A few questions. Your figure — not a rate card.
Audit defence is scoped by the audit's breadth and the amounts at stake — quoted after the free case assessment.
Licensed Tax Agent, registered with TARC under URA · Helping clients since 2012 · Rated 4.7 on Google
Urgent: Audit Case Assessment
Audits run on statutory deadlines. Send the details now — a senior specialist responds within one business day. The first look is free. The full audit review is prepaid and priced by the amount at stake; we tell you the fee before it starts.
- 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
URA examining your returns against your records and information it holds from others, to confirm whether you paid the right tax.
URA selects taxpayers through risk checks, for example when returns don't match EFRIS, bank or third-party data, and sometimes for a sector-wide review. Being selected doesn't mean you've done anything wrong.
Normally three years from the return, with no limit where there's fraud, gross or wilful neglect, or new information. In practice URA reviews up to five years, which is also how long you must keep records.
You must provide what URA lawfully requests, organised, complete and on time. Since July 2023, information URA asks for during the audit and doesn't receive can't be used later at objection, except documents more than three years old. What goes to URA during the audit decides the case.
Yes. As your tax agent we handle the correspondence, prepare the documents and attend meetings with you.
Check them before you accept anything. We review each finding against the law and your records, and respond in writing.
You have 45 days to object. Send us the assessment straight away so the objection is filed with evidence, in time.
Often, for older debts. Interest and penalties outstanding at 30 June 2025 may be waived if the principal tax is paid by 30 June 2027, and tax outstanding at 30 June 2016 may be waived in full. We check which apply to you and build them into the negotiation, so you know what you actually have to pay.
It starts with a review priced by the amount at stake: UGX 650,000 up to 50M, UGX 1,500,000 up to 200M, UGX 3,000,000 up to 1B and from UGX 5,000,000 above that, credited against representation. Representation is priced per tax head, per year or month under audit, by audit type: a desk audit from UGX 1,500,000, an issue-based audit from 2,500,000, a field audit from 4,000,000 and a comprehensive audit from 8,000,000. Up to three URA meetings are included.