From 1 July 2026, Uganda’s VAT withholding rules changed in an important way. URA has recently stated that, effective 1 July 2026, a designated VAT withholding agent is not required to withhold VAT on payments to a supplier who issues an EFRIS invoice or receipt. This follows the 2026 VAT amendment, which excludes VAT withholding where a designated person pays for taxable supplies and is issued an e-invoice or e-receipt. That sounds simple. But a practical question has now emerged: What happens to invoices that were issued before 1 July 2026 but are being reviewed, paid, or followed up after that date? The answer should not be reduced to one sentence. The safer approach is to separate three things: the invoice date, the payment date, and the existence of a valid EFRIS invoice or receipt. Under the old VAT withholding regime, designated VAT withholding agents were required to withhold VAT when making payment for taxable supplies, unless an exemption applied. Therefore, where p...

A taxpayer can pay the exact amount agreed as principal tax and still discover years later that the tax ledger shows principal outstanding and interest continuing to accumulate. That problem sat at the centre of CARE International in Uganda v Uganda Revenue Authority , TAT Application No. 353 of 2025, decided by Uganda's Tax Appeals Tribunal on 7 September 2026. The ruling is important for finance and tax teams because it moves the discussion beyond whether tax was paid. It asks the next control question: how was the payment actually allocated on the taxpayer's ledger? FGL takeaway: Paying a tax assessment is not the final control. The payment must also be reconciled to the tax authority's ledger, including how the amount was split between principal tax, penal tax and interest. The dispute in brief CARE International in Uganda is a non-profit international organisation involved in humanitarian activities and emergency response. The underly...

The practical answer IAS 16 is not mainly a rule about calculating depreciation. It is a decision process that starts when money is spent and continues until the asset leaves the books. The accountant must decide whether the expenditure creates or improves a resource that will be used for more than one period, which costs belong in the asset, when the asset is ready for use, how its significant parts are consumed, and when an impairment or disposal entry is required. The everyday discipline is simple: identify the asset, build a supported cost, record the available-for-use date, separate significant components, choose a consumption pattern, review estimates and reconcile the fixed-asset register to the general ledger. A mathematically correct depreciation charge can still be wrong if any earlier decision was wrong. What IAS 16 covers IAS 16 applies to tangible items held for production, supply, rental or administration that are expected to be used for more than one period. Co...

The short answer. A growing business needs controls that keep decisions, transactions and evidence reliable as the number of people, systems, suppliers and customers increases. The aim is not to create bureaucracy. It is to identify the risks that could prevent the business from meeting its objectives, assign responsibility, design proportionate checks, keep evidence and correct failures promptly. Informal controls often work while the owner sees most transactions and a small team shares the same information. Growth weakens that visibility. Approvals become less clear, access rights accumulate, reconciliations fall behind and exceptions are resolved through private messages rather than documented processes. At that point, trust still matters, but trust alone cannot show whether a transaction was authorised, recorded correctly and reviewed. Scope: General / International Last reviewed: 24 October 2026 Scope and authority This guide explains internal control as a management...