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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2021 |
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Applicant permitted to re-open case and tender documents subject to admissibility; costs awarded for applicant’s lack of due diligence.
Tax Appeals Tribunal – application to re-open case; discretion to re-open before judgment; admissibility of documents; Article 126(2)(e) and s.22(2) Tax Appeals Tribunal Act – substantive justice with minimal technicality; burden of proof on taxpayer; costs where lack of due diligence.
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30 December 2021 |
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Tribunal found import taxes properly paid; audit failed to prove under-valuation from incoterm inconsistencies.
Customs valuation – Incoterms (FOB, CFR, CIF, DAP) – role in determining customs value; Post-clearance audit – evidence and burden of proof in tax appeals; EACCMA Fourth Schedule valuation rules – addition of transport and insurance; Penal tax and interest – requirement to prove under-valuation and loss of revenue.
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14 December 2021 |
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Tribunal allowed applicant to amend Statement of Reasons to resolve disputed service date and potential time‑bar.
Tax Appeals Tribunal – amendment of pleadings – Rule 31(2) adoption of Civil Procedure Rules – Order 6 r.19 – leave to amend Statement of Reasons – disputed service date and time‑bar – bad faith and prejudice – costs in the cause.
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14 December 2021 |
| November 2021 |
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Tribunal lacks jurisdiction over private rulings; alternatively applicant not entitled to input VAT on hired passenger automobiles.
* Tax procedure – jurisdiction – private ruling is not a 'tax decision' under the Tax Procedure Code Act; no objection decision means no appeal to Tribunal.
* VAT – input tax – S.28(5)(a) disallows input credit for passenger automobiles unless acquired exclusively for business of selling/dealing/hiring such vehicles.
* Characterisation of hire – hiring a vehicle is a supply (parting with possession) for VAT purposes.
* Evidence and burden – taxpayer must prove having incurred the input tax and meet statutory exceptions.
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25 November 2021 |
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11 November 2021 |
| October 2021 |
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28 October 2021 |
| September 2021 |
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Application dismissed for failure to pay the mandatory 30% deposit where the dispute concerned assessed tax quantum.
Tax Appeals Tribunal – s.15(1) Tax Appeals Tribunal Act – 30% deposit pending objection – constitutional challenge where objection is purely legal/technical (Fuelex) – applicability to assessed tax quantum – interplay with Supreme Court VAT decision – requirement arises at objection stage – remedy under Tax Procedure Code (s.28) for instalments/extension.
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23 September 2021 |
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Tribunal lacks jurisdiction where matter was previously decided and applicant failed to follow EACCMA review procedure.
Tax appeals – jurisdiction – res judicata where dispute was decided by Magistrate’s Court; statutory review under EACCMA ss.229–230 prerequisite to Tribunal appeal; refunds under s.144 and treatment of interest.
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21 September 2021 |
| August 2021 |
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The applicant’s licence to use a foreign hotel brand and reservation system constituted an imported service subject to VAT.
VAT – Imported services – Licence to use foreign brand and centralized reservation system – Destination principle – Composite supplies: principal service versus ancillary service – Sections 4(c), place of consumption and VAT chargeability.
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27 August 2021 |
| July 2021 |
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Application dismissed for failure to exhaust statutory review and being time‑barred; tribunal lacked jurisdiction over penal conviction issues.
Customs law — procedure for dispute resolution — obligation to seek review under S.229 EACCMA before tribunal; limitation — 45‑day appeal period under S.230; legitimate expectation — requires clear, authorised representation and cannot override statutory tax obligations; penal sanctions under S.203 EACCMA require conviction; tribunal’s lack of jurisdiction to hear premature or time‑barred matters.
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30 July 2021 |
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A private ruling is binding unless validly revoked in writing; an assessment issued without revocation and computed on gross proceeds is invalid.
* Tax procedure – Private rulings (s.45) – binding nature where full and true disclosure made; Commissioner’s discretion to revoke must be exercised by written notice and rationally. * Capital gains tax – computation – gain must be sale consideration less statutory cost base (ss.50, 52); cannot simply apply flat 30% to sale proceeds. * Tax appeals – payment of 30% of tax in dispute – bank guarantee and timing of preliminary objections.
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29 July 2021 |
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29 July 2021 |
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22 July 2021 |
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16 July 2021 |
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Applicant’s tax review dismissed as time‑barred; reaffirmation of decision did not revive appeal period.
* Tax law – limitation periods under EACCMA s.230(2) – 45‑day appeal period from service of Commissioner’s decision. * Customs review – EACCMA s.229(4)/(5) – Commissioner’s duty to communicate decision within 30 days and effect of omission. * Tax Appeals Tribunal Act s.17 – lodging notice of decision and statement of reasons within 30 days; late Form TAT 2 struck out. * Locus standi – effect of late filing of respondent’s materials. * Revivification – mere reiteration of a prior decision does not extend limitation period.
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5 July 2021 |
| June 2021 |
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28 June 2021 |
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Appeal allowed: instruction fees varied to Shs. 67,307,717; separate reconciliation and deposit claims not sustained; VAT not claimable in unpleaded bill.
* Advocates' costs – Instruction fees – Proper valuation of subject matter under Sixth Schedule – reassessment of instruction fees.
* Advocates' costs – Scope of Sixth Schedule – reconciliation work and deposit-claim fees either covered by instruction fees or outside Schedule.
* Taxation procedure – Amendments to bills – requirement of lodging, party consent or leave of taxing officer/court.
* VAT – Cannot be recovered from a taxed bill if not pleaded or supported by VAT certificate; e-invoice outside bill possible.
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24 June 2021 |
| May 2021 |
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27 May 2021 |
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18 May 2021 |
| April 2021 |
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A lease moratorium postpones payment but does not excuse the statutory obligation to charge and remit VAT; assessment upheld.
* Tax — Value Added Tax — Leasing of plant and equipment — Rental agreements are taxable supplies; time of supply occurs on earlier of payment due, payment made, or invoice issued; VAT payable monthly. * Contract vs statute — A contractual moratorium may postpone payment but cannot waive or extinguish statutory tax obligations; parties cannot by agreement fetter statutory tax duties. * Deferment — VAT deferment regulations concern import deferment and do not authorise waiver of VAT on leasing absent statutory approval. * Commissioner’s powers — Extension or deferment of VAT requires written application and approval by the Commissioner General.
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30 April 2021 |
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Taxation of costs awarded on a preliminary ruling is stayed pending final determination of the main application.
Costs — Taxation of bill of costs — Whether costs awarded on a preliminary ruling may be taxed before final determination — Court’s discretion under s.27 Civil Procedure Act — Costs follow the event; taxation may be stayed to avoid prejudging main application.
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28 April 2021 |
| March 2021 |
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Registered taxable person entitled to input VAT on construction costs used in its business; claim allowed with costs.
VAT – Input tax credit – Section 28(1) VAT Act – entitlement where supplies made to a taxable person during tax period and used in the business – making taxable supplies not a pre‑condition – construction costs for commercial property recoverable where used in taxable business (letting advertising space) – taxable person defined by registration.
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31 March 2021 |
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Donor grants are not taxable supplies; input VAT apportionment must exclude grants and the assessment was set aside.
VAT — Input tax apportionment (S.28(7)(b); Fourth Schedule S.1(f)): donor grants are not taxable supplies and must be excluded from C; dexa scan services are exempt medical supplies under item 1(h) of the Second Schedule; where B/C yields entitlement, input tax credit follows; VAT assessment based on including grants set aside.
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31 March 2021 |
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Tribunal held related‑party sales were arm’s‑length; respondent’s market‑price adjustment unlawful; assessed loss partly upheld.
Tax — transfer pricing and related‑party transactions — arm’s‑length principle v. fair market value; Tax Procedures Code s.23 powers to assess on best information; self‑assessment and assessed losses (s.20 Tax Procedures Code) — burden on taxpayer to prove loss; admissibility and reliability of field inspection evidence in tax reassessments.
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29 March 2021 |
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Instruction fees and separate perusal fees disallowed where respondent used salaried in-house counsel and rules subsume perusals into instruction fees.
Advocates’ costs — Taxation of bill of costs — Instruction fees not allowable where in-house counsel used and no external instruction expense incurred — Perusals subsumed within instruction fee under sixth schedule — Fifth schedule inapplicable to justify separate perusal charge.
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23 March 2021 |
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Applicant’s delay due to a clerk’s omission is imputed to it; no sufficient cause shown, extension refused.
* Tax procedure – extension of time – S.16 Tax Appeals Tribunal Act and Rule 11 – requirement to show reasonable/sufficient cause.
* Procedural law – employer vicarious responsibility – negligence of employee (legal clerk) imputed to institutional litigant; does not amount to sufficient cause.
* Administrative law – estoppel – cannot be used to fetter a statutory body’s statutory powers.
* Exercise of discretion – factors: length of delay, reason, prospects of success, prejudice to other party.
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18 March 2021 |
| January 2021 |
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Tribunal held motor vehicle benefit is measured in days, taxpayer failed to prove fewer private-use days; application dismissed with costs.
Tax — PAYE — Motor vehicle benefit-in-kind — 5th Schedule formula (20% x A x B/C) - interpretation of B as days, not hours — burden of proof on taxpayer — sufficiency of vehicle movement logs — depreciation amendment timing.
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29 January 2021 |
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29 January 2021 |
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Application for extension to file tax review dismissed where delay exceeded statutory six-month limit despite COVID-19 and illness.
* Tax law – extension of time – application for review of objection decision – statutory 30-day and six-month limits under Tax Appeals Tribunal Act – Rule 11(6) allows extension for illness, absence or reasonable cause.
* Procedural law – extension of time – factors: length of delay, reasons for delay, prospects of success, prejudice to other party.
* COVID-19 – lockdown and health grounds considered but insufficient to justify delay beyond statutory six months.
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29 January 2021 |
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Provisional tax underestimation beyond 10% attracts statutory penal tax; remission is a ministerial discretion.
Tax Procedure Code Act s.51 – Penal tax for underestimation of provisional chargeable income/turnover; Income Tax Act s.112 – timing and revision of provisional estimates; strict statutory liability for variance beyond 10%; s.53(5) – ministerial remission (discretionary).
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25 January 2021 |
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Applicant entitled to refund and may apply overpaid tax to offset liabilities despite refund time‑bar.
Tax law – refund and offset of overpaid tax – application of S.113(2) time limit to refund applications not to offsets under S.113(3); taxpayer’s property rights (Art.26) protect use of tax credits; unreasonable audit delay; recovery by agency notice without justification refundable.
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21 January 2021 |
