MTN escapes another SAFARITECH back tax in Uganda

Reports from Uganda indicate that another back tax slapped on MTN following an assessment by SAFARITECH from Kenya, has been written off because the assessment was found to be frivolous.

The amount involved was 280 billion Ugandan Shillings (US$75.45 million).

The cancellation of the back tax is said to have made some officials angry because they warned the government against using Safaritech for the job, citing a similar botched telecom tax dispute involving Safaritech in Ghana.

One of the individuals said to be irate at this is Head of Revenue Intelligence at the Ugandan State House, Brendan Adiru Wadri, who is said to have written an extensive report to President Yoweri Museveni warning against contracting Safaritech, particularly because of its record in Ghana.

The company at the end of that tax dispute in Ghana was also MTN, and the amount due in that dispute was US$773 million (GHS8.2 billion), but it all ended up being written off.

SafariTech was exposed in Ghana by Techfocus24 for its shady registration status, dodgy work methods and the circumstances under which it gets such contracts. It was founded by a Kenyan national with experience in taxation, Andrew Gathuo Chege, the current Nairobi City County Revenue Administration Authority Board chairperson.

In the Ugandan case, reports indicate that Safaritech, together with their alleged backers in Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), promised President Museveni that they could recover amounts north of 1.5 trillion Ugandan Shillings (US$404 million) in undeclared taxes.

The President okayed this move, over major protests from some of his advisers.

This is very similar to what happened in Ghana, where some insiders at GRA actually warned against contracting Safaritech for the job, and even a reputable audit firm like KPMG reassessed Safaritech’s work and raised questions, yet GRA still went ahead and slapped the bogus back tax on MTN.

Now, it appears that Uganda has been left holding an empty basket and the alleged revenue leakage issue hasn’t been solved.

Reports say Brendan Wadri, who advised the President against contracting Safaritech has tendered in her resignation to the president in protest of what she considers a shoddy and dubious handling of this tax situation.

Source:techfocus24.com