NIN–TIN integration to expand Uganda’s tax base, says Minister Lugoloobi

What the report says

Uganda’s finance ministry says it plans to use the National Identification Number as the main tax identifier for individuals, in a move officials say will widen the tax base, reduce duplicate registrations and make tax administration more efficient. Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development Amos Lugoloobi presented the update to Parliament during a sitting on Thursday, 15 October 2026, with Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth presiding, according to Watchdog Uganda.

Lugoloobi said the goal is to create a more reliable system for identifying taxpayers and strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation. He told lawmakers that Uganda has 5.7 million registered taxpayers, including 5.4 million individuals, but only 3.3 million are active. He also said the government views a cited Shs420 billion as an illustration of possible revenue gains if more eligible people comply, not as a new tax on all NIN holders.

The minister said separate NIN and TIN systems have led to duplicate entries and inconsistencies. He said the Uganda Revenue Authority identified 191,813 duplicate records and 51,993 mutations in the 2025/26 financial year, and that 2,130,814 of 5,405,148 individual taxpayer records had been matched with NINs by 30 September 2026.

The report also notes concerns raised in Parliament about unregistered Ugandans, inactive taxpayers and data privacy. Other legislators supported the reform, while suggesting that weak systems at the national IDs agency could affect implementation. More broadly, Uganda is part of a wider trend in which governments use unique identity systems to streamline tax collection, though the article did not say when the full transition would be completed.