The clearing and forwarding agencies have been cited in fraudulent acts by the Uganda Revenue Authority.

The acting customs commissioner, Sarah Kasheka says that the authority loses a lot of money through some corrupt members of the clearing and forwarding agencies. Clearing and forwarding agencies assist the importers and exporters to pay taxes at customs.

Kasheka says that a score of traders do not pay taxes after bribing some staff of clearing agencies who also corrupt the URA official to have goods cleared without paying taxes. She adds that the situation is worsened when others fraudsters forge signatures and stamps of URA officials.

The Customs commissioner was talking in a workshop of URA commissioners and clearing and forwarding directors to discuss how tax evasion can be avoided.

The Uganda Freight Forwarders Association chairman, Charles Kareba says that the customs department is mostly doctored by big people in government who use their positions to evade taxes. He adds that URA itself has a lot of inefficiencies and irregularities that cause taxes to be absconded.

By Issa Asuman