KCCA improves property tax collection with 97% performance

Amid all the hullaballoo from the passing of the controversial Landlord and Tenant Bill, the Kampala Capital City Authority recorded its best performance over the last five years when it comes to collecting property tax, with the opportunity of beating its target for the year 2018/2019 well within its grasp.

According to a press statement from the authority, KCCA had collected Shs 31.1 billion in different property levies as at June 20, 2019, 10 days before the close of the financial year. This collection reflects a 97 per cent performance, the best over the last five years. The target is Shs 32.1 billion.

“The ongoing revaluation of properties which has so far been concluded in central and Nakawa divisions has had a significant bearing on the increasing revenue yield from property rates,” the statement explained.

About two years ago, KCCA embarked on a valuation exercise in order to, among other things, capture more people into the tax bracket. The exercise saw KCCA also targeting some residential properties. The argument then was that the residential property could turn into a commercial asset and, therefore, there was a need to undergo valuation.

To avoid paying any tax, residential owners were urged to notify the authority that they were still staying in their houses at the end of each year.

It added that other interventions such as the use of social media to remind taxpayers to pay up, intensified enforcement activities, among others.

KCCA says “property rates are currently the largest contributor to the local revenue collections for the city.”

The authority says their contribution to the overall revenue collections has shot up to 29.3 per cent in 2017/2018, from 19.8 per cent in 2016/2017.