Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Uganda - Smuggling of mobile phones is costing about UGX 800 million (EUR 280,000)

[the new vision] Smuggling of mobile phones has taken a different shape. The perpetrators are now transporting the items in toilet paper rolls, cooking oil containers and wrapping them around their bodies.

Uganda Revenue Authority estimates the revenue loss at sh800m in taxes every month due to the vice.

This has prompted URA to plan a targeted customs audit on the major importers of mobile phones to access their compliance.

Kim Katumba, a businessman from Kampala, was intercepted with mobile phones worth sh2m wrapped around his body.

In a related development, a consignment belonging to Tripple M (U) and cleared by Express movers was found with excess undeclared 9,600 pairs of poly-cotton bed sheets from China.

Further, more than 50% under-declaration on pants, hankies, socks, petty coats, and bras was found. Additional taxes and fines collected amounted to sh70, 690,740.

The URA enforcement team intercepted smuggled Amarula wines on a Fuso lorry at Busunga in Bundibugyo recently. The wines were in 122 cartons worth sh29m in taxes.

Mityana and Mubende areas have increasingly become a hot spot for Supermatch cigarettes smuggled from Sudan. In the last five weeks, Supermatch cigarettes worth sh375m in taxes have been impounded in the area.

Revenue Loss of Sh800 Million to Phone Smugglers Monthly

No comments: