The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has started biometric tax profiling using the National Identification Number (NIN) as the government moves to phase out the Tax Identification Number (TIN). The exercise is being led by URA, with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) providing support mainly in verifying taxpayers’ identity data. It comes just days after the government approved the adoption of the NIN as the default tax identification number for Ugandan citizens, replacing the traditional process of obtaining a separate TIN.
According to URA, linking taxpayers’ identities to their NIN will harmonise government data, improve tax compliance and help curb tax evasion and fraud, which continue to undermine domestic revenue collection.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the launch of the National Identity Day Symposium ahead of National Identity Day celebrations on September 16 at Kololo Independence Grounds, Christine Mirembe, the URA Assistant Commissioner for Client Services, said the authority has started mapping and profiling taxpayers using their NINs.
Mirembe said the first phase, which requires taxpayers to provide their NINs, is expected to run until the end of September. “We have given Ugandans up to the end of this month to provide us with their NINs. In this first phase, we have started with improving the taxpayer’s profile with a picture. Currently, when you open your taxpayer profile, it has no picture, and someone can easily take advantage,” Mirembe said.
She said the biometric system will make it harder for individuals to fraudulently access or conduct transactions on another person’s tax profile. “We want to eliminate fraud. Aligning people’s TIN with their NIN means we shall have your biometrics as well, and anyone who does a transaction on that profile will be the owner, and access will be through biometric fingerprint,” Mirembe said.
She added that taxpayers who already provided their NINs when registering for a TIN will have to wait for the second phase of the rollout, which will involve giving consent for the full registration process.
Mirembe, however, warned that taxpayers who refuse to provide their NINs could have their information obtained through URA’s partnership with NIRA, saying the authority has a legal mandate to register taxpayers. Mirembe said replacing the TIN with the NIN is also expected to improve domestic revenue collection by enabling URA to establish taxpayers’ actual income and close existing gaps in tax collection.
Mirembe said the NIN would serve as a unique identifier for government, enabling URA to link taxpayers’ information across banks, trading licences and mobile money transactions. She said the system would make it difficult for individuals to claim they were no longer in business or unable to pay taxes when their financial transactions remained visible to the tax authority.
However, Rosemary Kisembo, the Executive Director of NIRA, clarified that NIRA will not merge its database with that of URA. Kisembo said each institution will retain its own data, with NIRA supporting URA by verifying identity information where necessary.
“We shall only help them in verifying that the person who registered for taxes is the right person, with all his data corresponding with what we have. But Ugandans should know that every data access will be backed by biometric authentication consent. “For the data to be retrieved from NIRA, there has to be consent proof from the owners. It is not going to be that we share it anyhow,” Kisembo said.
The move comes as the government steps up efforts to increase domestic revenue mobilisation to finance the national budget and reduce reliance on external borrowing. With the NIN now adopted as the government’s single reference for citizen identification, tax authorities expect greater interoperability between systems holding information on land ownership, banking, mobile money and business registration. The integration is expected to give government agencies a more comprehensive view of economic activity and strengthen efforts to identify taxpayers and improve compliance-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
