Civil society organisation, Oxfam Uganda has urged the government to strengthen tax measures on Wealthy individuals to end income inequality in the country.
Speaking at the National Tax Symposium on Taxing the Wealthy and High Net worth individuals (HNWIS) in Uganda, the organization’s country director, Francis Odokorach, said taxing the rich benefits the most vulnerable twice; from reduced pressure from the regressive taxation, which hits them hardest, and also from improved public spending.
He said Uganda has faced many unpredictable crises like drought, floods, and persistent increase in food and energy prices, which have widened the inequality gap, something that needs urgent attention if the government is to build a more inclusive future.
Odokorach thus called for the taxing of the super-rich and big corporations as the door out of today’s overlapping crises.
According to the World Bank, extreme poverty increased in 2020 for the first time in 25 years. At the same time, extreme wealth has risen dramatically since the pandemic.