What Is Motor Vehicle Tax?
It is a tax designed to be collected from commercial transport operators on a quarterly basis. The government funds road upkeep largely out of general taxation. That means that all road users pay “road tax” car drivers, van drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists, and even pedestrians.
How To Calculate Motor Vehicle Tax In Uganda?
Your Tax will be determined according to the Cost Insurance & Freight Tax Invoices, Year of Car Manufacture, and the Capacity of the Engine Consumption (the CCs). You then be required to pay 25% Import Duty, 18% VAT, 6% Withholding Tax, 20% Environmental levy, Infrastructure Levy, and Car Registration Fees.
How To Calculate Uganda Revenue Authority Car Taxes?
Thanks to our plug in, you can easily compute taxes before you import a used car in Uganda. But if you want to learn more about how the taxes are manually computed, you can turn to our comprehensive guide.
To make the learning process simpler, let’s first define some of the terms you’ll encounter as you review the calculations.
FOB: A term that means “Free on Board,” FOB is the actual price of the vehicle. It excludes any additional costs like insurance, shipping, inspection fees and the likes.
CIF: CIF is an abbreviation that stands for cost, insurance and freight. It is the sum of the FOB added to shipment, insurance, inspection and other shipping-related costs. If you are importing vehicles to Uganda, the nearest ports are located in Mombasa, Kenya; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Malaba, Kenya; and Kampala, Uganda. The taxes and freight costs vary depending on your pre-selected port of delivery.
URA: URA is an abbreviation for Uganda Revenue Authority.
TT: TT stands for Telegraphic Transfer.
How To Calculate Uganda Revenue Authority Car Taxes: A Step-By-Step Guide?
The values displayed on this section do not represent the value of the vehicle you wish to purchase. To compute the total amount for the importation of your chosen vehicle, you can either use our plug-in or manually perform your own calculations.
1. Firstly, select the car model and make.
To begin the computation, choose a vehicle model and make. It is important to note that most dealers and auction houses display the FOB. Hence, you need to add the FOB to other additional costs like taxes, insurance and shipping fees to get the total value of the vehicle.
2. Collect data on the vehicle.
As aforementioned, In Uganda, different factors contribute to the total cost of the imported vehicle. The year of the manufacture, for instance, affects the tax rate levied on the vehicle. Since tax is computed based on the vehicle’s total value, newer cars are typically associated with higher taxes. Older ones, on the other hand, have lower taxes since they are lower in value.
Nonetheless, although older cars have lower taxes, importers may have to pay an Environmental Levy. An Environmental Levy is applicable to all vehicles over 5 years from their manufacture date. Other data you need to collect include the following:
Vehicle model and make
Year of manufacture
Model code
Engine capacity
Chassis number
Fuel type
3. Select Your Port of Delivery
Then, select a port of delivery. Since you’re purchasing a used vehicle from Uganda, the ports of delivery you can choose from are located in Mombasa, Kenya; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Malaba, Kenya; and Kampala, Uganda. Note that all international cars scheduled to be imported to Uganda should undergo a pre-inspection. Otherwise, you’d be charged with heavy penalties.
If, for instance, you selected Mombasa as a port of delivery and the CIF is 6,500 USD, this amount will appear in the invoice prepared by your car dealer or car auction house.
Since the CIF is expressed in US dollars (USD), it is converted to Uganda Shillings (Ug Shs). Hence, the total amount you need to pay is highly dependent on the current dollar-shilling conversion rate. Conversion rates vary depending on the bank’s prevailing rate.
Let’s get back to our example earlier and make an approximation. If 1 USD is equivalent to 3,600 Ug Shs, you have to multiply 6,500 by 3,600, which will result to 23,400,000 Ug Shs. This represents the TT you need to pay to your Japan-based car dealer.
When sending money, you can use your personal bank account. Since banks also charge clients for international clients, you also have to confirm the total bank and remittance charges you need to settle. Also, all importers are advised to pay in US dollars rather than in Japanese Yen or Uganda Shilling.
4. Let’s Do the Math
You can calculate the total import taxes by entering it on the URA tax calculator. URA released a full list that displays the car specifications of different car models and makes, along with their CIF value. The list was created to standardize tax rates and avoid circumstances where people get invoices that are under the value of the vehicle they wish to purchase. You can view the list by visiting this link.
Once you find the CIF value of the vehicle, you just have to enter it to URA’s tax calculator to get an assessment of the total tax value of the vehicle.
NOTE: The URA has its own prevailing dollar-shilling exchange rate. The main purpose of the URA calculator is to offer you a tax assessment for USED vehicle models and makes. The value may change depending on factors that include the CIF, tax rates and current exchange rates. Before processing your payment, you must first acquire an import declaration, which is released by your clearing agent.
5. Lastly, add in other import-related expenditures
To calculate the total cost, identify other import-related expenditures such as the registration number plate and the clearing charges.
Let’s again go back to our example earlier and assume that the tax rate from URA totaled to 15,000,000, the registration number plate is 140,000 and the clearing charges is 250,000.
The breakdown of the computation is as follows:
CIF = 23,400,000 Ug Shs
Total Taxes: 15,000,000
Registration number plate = 140,000
Clearing charges = 250,000
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Sum: 38,790,000
Based on the breakdown, the total amount of the vehicle on our example is 38,790,000. Again, this is just an example, and it does not represent the value of the vehicle you wish to import from Japan.
By using a proactive approach in computing your total expenditures, you can plan ahead and decide whether the vehicle is within your budget range. This way, you would be able to avoid unpleasant surprises as you import a used car to your country.
How Can I Check URA Vehicle Details In Uganda?
Visit the web portalclick on e-services. Under motor vehicle, click on search and certification. Capture applicants TIN, if available, details will be auto populated in grey, or select No if you do not have a TIN and fill in the applicant details.