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Deserved? Last weekend, Spice Diana had a concert at Lugogo Cricket Oval and her show generated a lot of talkability 24 hours before she could take to the stage, thanks to the grand stage.After her performance, if any of the reviews were anything to go by, the audience felt shortchanged by the artiste, writes Andrew Kaggwa.
This year started in a mess. From a stampede that claimed lives at Freedom City to a case of Uganda Revenue Authority asking local artistes to get TINs. Most artistes were so confused by the move that one even wondered why the government was coming for them.
The directive, however, was not only targeting artistes, it included all people who are making money from the entertainment industry as a whole; curators, programmers and producers.
Much as many artistes are already paying taxes, there are more that do not pay taxes, thanks to the unique nature of the music industry in Uganda. Being an informal yet lucrative sector, there are many artistes without a known minimum rate.
However, with compulsory taxation in the offing, some artistes were quick to amend things with their management. Joseph Mayanja, alias Jose Chameleone, came out and notified his management that his new rate effective January 2023 was Shs10m. Read more