Ugandan MPs have approved a new tax on child and adult diapers in a bid to raise revenues for service delivery.
The lawmakers also retained a tax on people using social media platforms and purchasing items on online platforms, although there is still no mechanism for compliance.
“As businesses migrate online, we have to equally migrate because if we do not do that, then we are not going to be able to raise our tax to Gross Domestic Product ratios from the current 13 per cent,” said Minister of State for Finance Amos Lugoloobi.
Disposable diapers enjoy tax exemption in the country and the proposed law would raise up to 2 billion Ugandan shillings ($536,000) in taxes annually, a report on parliament's website said.
The Value Added Tax Amendment Bill 2023 now waits for approval by President Yoweri Museveni to become law.
A parliamentary report discussed on Thursday said "diapers are not bio-degradable which makes them an environmental hazard". The lawmakers also rejected a government proposal to exempt taxes on adult diapers that are used by those suffering from incontinence.
The opposition protested that the amount to be collected from the tax was insignificant.
"We would like to see government collect as much revenue as possible but we do not also want government to just perform rituals," said opposition leader Mathias Mpuuga.
