
Lawyers don’t have to pay double tax, minister should consult next time – Uganda court
After a long and difficult battle with the relevant minister, Uganda’s law society has staved off attempts to subject members to double taxation. The government had included lawyers on a schedule of professions and businesses that had to apply for local licences to ‘trade’, though they are already taxed via practice certification processes. Judge Ssekaana Musa had to deal with similar challenges to the schedule from members of Uganda’s pharmaceutical association and organised members of the country’s forwarding and clearing business. In all three cases, he found the 2017 proposals would introduce a system that amounted to double taxation. This was impermissible and the minister’s actions were thus declared invalid. In an obiter note at the end of his judgment on the law society’s challenge, Judge Musa urged that the government consult with the law society to avoid ‘further litigation’.