EAC Grants Ten year Tax Holiday to Exporters

(Busiweek)--The East African Community council of ministers has granted a ten-year tax holiday to investors who produce 80 per cent of their products for export.

The move is aimed at attracting more investors who can add value and increase export earnings for the region. ‘This means there is almost no tax at all and other incentives include drawback on value added tax and any other taxes on packaging materials that is refunded to the investor at the point of exit for the products,’ said Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) Deputy Executive Director, Tom Buringuriza. He said this last week at a meeting with a seven-man delegation from the IME Group in the United Kingdom.

The team was led by their chairman, Max Rose, a property entrepreneur in the real estate sector. The group has very good business and investment connections with a large network of investors including investment bankers and retired successful soccer professionals with investment resources. They are also associated with the InterContinental Bank, and have investments in petroleum exploration as well as interest in value addition initiatives in the agricultural and tourism sectors. The general areas the group is looking at are: real estate, trade, transport, agriculture, tourism, sports, banking and petroleum among others.

He said other incentives aimed at attracting investors in exports sector include duty exemption on plant and machinery, and other inputs; stamp duty exemption; and no taxation on scholastic materials, human and animal drugs and raw materials for manufacturing industries.

He said investors coming into the country should not get worried about Uganda’s judicial system because the country has been ranked to have the best Commercial Court in Africa. ‘We currently have many delegations coming to Uganda to study how our Commercial Court operates; our judges are effectively monitored and government is focused on enforcement of contracts which is one of the major causes of failures for investment projects in other countries,’ he said.

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