Small business tax, made simple — register, file, and stop worrying.
If your business turns over less than UGX 150 million a year, you likely qualify for presumptive tax — a simpler, cheaper regime than full income tax. Most small businesses either don't know this, or are registered wrongly and paying more than the law requires.
Most small businesses are either unregistered, or registered in the wrong regime.
Presumptive tax is Uganda's simplified regime for small businesses with annual turnover up to UGX 150 million. Instead of full accounts and corporate returns, tax is charged on a simple schedule based on your turnover band. Done right, it is cheap and painless.
The problem is that most small business owners have never had anyone explain it. Some are not registered at all — invisible until URA finds them through EFRIS purchases, bank records or a landlord's records, at which point estimated assessments arrive. Others were registered into the wrong regime by an agent years ago and are quietly overpaying, or filing returns they don't need to file.
We register you correctly, file what's due, clean up any backlog, and — as you grow toward the UGX 150M boundary — plan the transition to the full regime so it never catches you by surprise.
The cost of waiting: An unregistered business discovered by URA is assessed on estimates, backdated, with penalties and 2% monthly interest. What would have been a small annual presumptive payment becomes a multi-year demand.
What this can cost you
- Backdated estimated assessments once URA identifies the business
- Penalties and 2% monthly interest on unpaid amounts
- No TIN or tax history — blocking bank loans, tenders and supplier contracts
- Inability to get a Tax Clearance Certificate when a big opportunity appears
- Overpayment for years if you're in the wrong regime and nobody checked
- A painful, unplanned jump into VAT and full income tax when you cross the threshold
What people assume
“My business is too small for URA to care about. Registering just puts me on their radar.”
What's actually true
URA finds small businesses through the systems around you — EFRIS invoices from your suppliers, bank and mobile money data, KCCA licensing records. You are already visible. The choice is whether URA meets you as a compliant business paying a small presumptive amount, or as an unregistered one to be assessed on estimates and backdated.
What we handle for you
- TIN registration for you and your business, done correctly the first time
- Confirmation of the right regime — presumptive vs. full income tax vs. VAT
- Computation of your presumptive liability under the current rate schedule
- Filing of current and outstanding presumptive returns
- Negotiation of penalties on any backlog years
- Threshold planning as you approach UGX 150M turnover
A defined process, start to finish
We review
A short conversation about your turnover, sector and history. We check your TIN status and URA ledger and confirm which regime you belong in.
We file
We register or correct your registration, compute the right amounts, and file every return that is due — including backlog years.
We represent
If URA has already assessed or written to you, we respond, correct the figures and negotiate penalties down.
Deliverables
- Correct TIN and regime registration, confirmed in writing
- All presumptive returns filed with acknowledgment receipts
- A one-page annual tax summary in plain language
- Penalty negotiation on backlog where applicable
- Filing reminders before every deadline
- A growth plan for the day you cross UGX 150M
Priced to your situation — not a rate card
Presumptive engagements are deliberately affordable — this is the entry point where compliance should cost less than the penalty for skipping it.
“Meet 'Okello's General Store' — a growing Kampala retailer that had never registered. A supplier's EFRIS records put them on URA's radar and an estimated demand followed. We registered them properly, filed three backlog years under the presumptive schedule, and the final bill came to less than a third of URA's estimate.”
Illustrative composite scenario reflecting real client patterns — details changed to protect confidentiality.
FAQs — Presumptive Tax (Small Business)
It is a simplified tax for small businesses with annual turnover up to UGX 150 million. Instead of preparing full accounts, you pay according to a schedule based on your turnover band. It exists precisely so small businesses can be compliant without an accounting department.
It depends on your turnover band and, for some bands, your location and business type. For most genuinely small businesses the annual amount is modest — usually far less than owners fear. We compute it exactly before you commit to anything.
Coming forward voluntarily is consistently cheaper than being found. We register you, file the open years at the correct presumptive amounts, and negotiate the penalty position — including the current waiver on older interest and penalties where it applies.
When annual turnover crosses UGX 150M you move to full income tax, and at UGX 250M VAT registration becomes mandatory (threshold effective 1 July 2026). We watch these boundaries for our clients so the transition is planned, not panicked.
Not usually — EFRIS obligations attach mainly to VAT-registered businesses. But if your customers are VAT-registered they may ask you for EFRIS invoices, and there are situations where registering early makes commercial sense. We advise on your specific case.
Not sure where you stand? Let's find out — before URA does it for you.
A 30-minute consultation tells you exactly where you stand, what it will cost to fix, and what happens if you wait. No obligation.