Gov’t Presses Parliament for Access to Ugandans’ Bank Accounts to Boost Tax Enforcement

What the report says

Uganda’s government is again asking Parliament to approve access to individual bank accounts as part of a wider effort to strengthen tax enforcement, according to State Minister for Finance Amos Lugoloobi. He raised the issue while briefing MPs on the rollout of National Identification Numbers (NINs) into the tax system, and said the bank-account request is separate from the ongoing shift from Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) to NINs.

Lugoloobi said linking a person’s TIN to a NIN does not by itself give the Uganda Revenue Authority access to banking records. He said a separate legal authorisation from Parliament would be needed, and described the NIN as an identity tool while tax law determines whether someone owes tax and how much. The government says the NIN transition, backed by 2025 amendments to the Tax Procedures Code Act, is meant to reduce duplicate records, improve identification and increase compliance.

Watchdog Uganda reported that the tax authority has been matching NINs to TINs in phases and that many individual taxpayer records remain inactive or difficult to trace. The publication also said the proposal raises privacy and banking-secrecy concerns, with questions expected over safeguards, data protection and the limits of any access powers.

The issue places Parliament in the middle of a policy balance between raising revenue and protecting financial privacy. The article said no timetable has been given for when the government will formally return with the request.