Uganda Digital Tax Stamps Now Cover 1,680 Firms
UGANDA · TAX
Key Facts
- —What is a digital tax stamp A machine-readable mark applied to a product at the factory or the border. It lets the tax authority trace each item through the supply chain.
- —What was said More than 1,680 manufacturers and importers are now registered on the system, according to the Uganda Revenue Authority.
- —Who said it Richard Kariisa, URA Commissioner for Corporate Services, speaking for Commissioner General John Musinguzi Rujoki.
- —Where At an engagement with the Uganda Manufacturers Association in Kampala on Thursday 10 September 2026.
- —What it covers Thirteen product categories, from beer and spirits to cement, sugar and cooking oil.
- —What it costs firms Between Shs13 a unit for bottled water and soda and Shs135 for cement, roughly US$0.003 to US$0.034.
Uganda puts a traceable mark on every bottle of beer and bag of cement sold in the country. The tax authority says the system now covers more than 1,680 firms.
The Uganda Revenue Authority says more than 1,680 manufacturers and importers are now registered on its digital tax stamps system. Commissioner Richard Kariisa gave the figure to manufacturers in Kampala on 10 September 2026.
How the System Works
Every covered product carries a stamp applied at the point of manufacture or import.
The stamp is machine-readable and unique, so a specific item can be traced from factory to shelf.
The authority reads the data to check that declared production matches what actually moves.
Consumers can scan a stamp to confirm a product is genuine and tax-paid.
The Number
The figure given was more than 1,680 manufacturers and importers actively registered on the portal.
It counts registrations rather than compliance, and it is a cumulative total rather than new additions.
It is the authority’s own count of its own system, given at an event with the industry it regulates.
No independent audit of the registration base has been published.
What Is Covered
Thirteen categories fall under the regime. They run from beer, spirits and wine through soda, juice and bottled water to tobacco, cement, sugar and cooking oil.
The system began with alcohol, tobacco, water and soda in November 2019.
Cooking oil, juices and further beverage categories followed in a second phase from 1 May 2022, with a two-month transition.
Cement and sugar are the categories that reach the widest range of Ugandan businesses.
Who Runs It
SICPA Uganda operates the track-and-trace platform under URA oversight.
The Swiss group holds similar contracts in several African tax jurisdictions.
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards applies its own conformity stamps for standards certification, which is a separate function on similar products.
The two are often confused because a single bottle can carry both.
What It Has Raised
The authority credits the stamps, alongside its electronic invoicing system, with a substantial part of recent revenue growth.
It has cited growth approaching 40% in domestic revenue collections for the 2024/25 financial year.
The Auditor General’s 2024/25 report links both systems to revenue performance. Total collections rose from Shs22.098 trillion in 2021/22 to Shs32.357 trillion in 2024/25, about US$5.6 billion to US$8.3 billion.
These are the authority’s attributions of its own results, and separating the effect of stamps from wider economic growth is not straightforward.
What Manufacturers Say
The stamps cost money per unit and the cost falls on the producer.
At Shs13 for a bottle of water, about US$0.003, the burden is small on a large run. On a small one it is not.
At Shs135 a bag of cement, roughly US$0.034, the arithmetic is different again.
Ugandan manufacturers have argued the system favours large producers, who can absorb the fixed costs of compliance. Government at one point undertook to meet stamp costs for a year.
Why Governments Like Track and Trace
Excisable goods are where tax leakage concentrates, because the tax is high relative to the product value.
Smuggled and counterfeit alcohol and tobacco are a public health problem as well as a revenue one.
A traceable stamp makes an untaxed bottle visible on a shelf rather than invisible in an accounting return.
The trade-off is a compliance cost imposed on every legitimate producer to catch the illegitimate ones.
What to Watch
URA’s revenue target for the year, set at Shs46.6 trillion, about US$11.9 billion.
Whether new categories are added, which is how the regime has expanded so far.
Enforcement against unstamped goods in informal retail, where the system is hardest to apply.
And whether the authority publishes a figure isolating what the stamps themselves collect.
More: Africa news and analysis, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many firms use Uganda’s digital tax stamps?
More than 1,680 manufacturers and importers are registered, according to the Uganda Revenue Authority on 10 September 2026.
Who announced it?
Richard Kariisa, URA Commissioner for Corporate Services, speaking for Commissioner General John Musinguzi Rujoki at a Uganda Manufacturers Association engagement.
Which products are covered?
Thirteen categories including beer, spirits, wine, soda, juice, bottled water, tobacco, cement, sugar and cooking oil.
What does a stamp cost?
From Shs13 a unit for bottled water and soda, about US$0.003, to Shs135 for cement, roughly US$0.034.
Who operates the system?
SICPA Uganda, under URA oversight. The Uganda National Bureau of Standards runs separate conformity stamps.
Has it raised revenue?
The authority credits it, with electronic invoicing, for much of recent collection growth. Isolating the effect of the stamps alone is not straightforward.
Sources: Uganda Revenue Authority, Uganda Manufacturers Association, Daily Monitor, Nilepost, The Independent (Uganda), Office of the Auditor General.
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