KACITA Asks Gov’t to Declare the 3 Months Lockdown a Loss in regards to Rent Obligations

Traders under their umbrella body, Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) have asked government to declare the three-month COVID-19 lockdown as a loss to the entire economy.

This is in order to cushion tenants whose merchandise shops were locked following the lockdown from rent obligations.

The call has been made today by KACITA Spokesperson, Issa Sekito today while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on the National Economy headed by former Finance Minister Syda Bbumba.

He also called for a waiver on rental income tax obligations for the three months so that it becomes credit against the forfeited rent.

“Why we think this is possible is that for every bank to give you money, forget about collateral; the most important thing is cashflow. Therefore, if I can’t have my cashflow (in order), what is it am I going to pay for even if you restructured my loan?” he said

John Kakungulu, the Executive Director at Federation Of Small And Medium Sized Enterprises called on government to clear all domestic arrears to enable the most hit businesses utilize this money to keep afloat.

On his part, Charity Kiyemba, the Secretary of Uganda Alcohol Association noted that starting July 2020, manufacturers are expected to start paying for digital tax stamps, a thing she said will negatively affect their businesses.

Kiyemba said that companies involved in brewing alcohol will be required to pay 15 billion to meet the digital stamps expenditure, noting that once this is done, they will transfer the bills to the consumer.

She added that the last time taxes were increased on beer, the consumption reduced by 72%.