Taxing Rental Income: An Analysis of the Outcomes of Legal and Administrative Reforms in Uganda
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Research in Brief 170
More attention is being paid to the role of property-related taxes in generating domestic revenue in African countries. However, rental income taxes – a significant aspect of property-related taxes – are largely overlooked in academic literature. Starting in 2014, in a bid to enhance compliance and boost revenue collection from rental income taxes, the Government of Uganda and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) introduced various legal and administrative reforms.
This paper analyses the impact of these reforms. It relies on analysis of legal reforms, interviews with tax experts in the public and private sector in Uganda, and analysis of anonymised tax administration data from URA. The paper contributes to the literature on taxation of rental income in Africa by making three main observations: it is difficult to tax rental income in a context like Uganda; the methods URA used to expand the taxpayer register made URA prey to the ‘registration obsession’; and there are more changes to the law on taxing rental income than one would expect if the government was experimenting with finding the best methods.
Ian Kananura Mwesigye is a Supervisor Tax Crime Investigations at the Uganda Revenue Authority. His research and professional interests focus on the analysis of virtual assets, construction, and real estate sectors, alongside exploring the application of artificial intelligence in enhancing tax administration. Ian holds an MSc in Property Studies from the University of Cape Town, a BSc in Quantity Surveying from Makerere University, and a BSc in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from ISBAT University.
Ronald Ochen is a Senior Research Officer at the Uganda Bankers Association. He is an economist with research interests in public finance, financial economics, and monetary policy. Ronald has expertise in macro-econometric modelling and forecasting, cross-sectional panel data analysis, and quasi-experimental studies. He has authored several peer-reviewed papers. Ronald holds a Master of Arts in Economic Policy Management from Makerere University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda.
Ronald Waiswa is an Applied Research and Statistics Specialist at the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF). Previously, he was a Research and Policy Analysis Supervisor at the Uganda Revenue Authority. He has collaborated with ICTD on a number of research projects in Uganda on issues including taxing wealthy individuals and public sector agencies.
Jalia Kangave holds a PhD in Law from the University of British Columbia, and has over decade of experience in the fields of taxation, law, and international development. She previously served as the Principal of the East African School of Taxation in Uganda, worked as a tax consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers Uganda, and was a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies. Dr Kangave is the lead consultant for the International Centre for Tax and Development’s research programme on gender and taxation.
Citation: Mwesigye, I.K.; Ochen, R.; Waiswa, R. and Kangave, J. (2025) Taxing Rental Income: An Analysis of the Outcomes of Legal and Administrative Reforms in Uganda, ICTD Research in Brief 170, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, DOI: 10.19088/ICTD.2025.056
