Uganda’s Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS) is the Uganda Revenue Authority system that records your business transactions and receives transaction data in real time. Since 1 July 2025, EFRIS has applied beyond VAT-registered taxpayers to 12 non-VAT sectors: manufacturing; mining and quarrying; water supply, sewerage and waste management; electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply; construction; transport and storage; accommodation and food services; information and communication; real estate; professional, scientific and technical activities; arts, entertainment and recreation; and fuel retailing. Small businesses in those sectors with annual turnover below UGX 10 million are exempt, as are rental-income earners below UGX 2.82 million a year.
What changed in the Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Act 2026
The Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Act 2026, effective 1 July 2026, revises section 93 of the Tax Procedures Code Act, Cap. 343. The fixed penalty floor has dropped sharply, while the proportional basis has changed from 'the tax due' to 'double the tax due'.
- Failure to use an electronic fiscal device (EFD), previous
- Tax due or 400 currency points (UGX 8,000,000), whichever higher
- Failure to use an EFD, new
- Double the tax due or 10 currency points (UGX 200,000), whichever higher
- Failure to issue e-invoice/e-receipt or tampering with an EFD, previous
- Tax due or 300 currency points (UGX 6,000,000), whichever higher
- Failure to issue e-invoice/e-receipt or tampering, new
- Double the tax due or 10 currency points (UGX 200,000), whichever higher
- Tax-stamp penal tax floor, previous
- Double the tax due or 2,500 currency points (UGX 50,000,000), whichever higher
- Tax-stamp penal tax floor, new
- Double the tax due or 100 currency points (UGX 2,000,000), whichever higher
UGX 200,000
New fixed EFRIS penalty floor
One currency point is worth UGX 20,000. That means 10 currency points is UGX 200,000; the old floors were 400 currency points (UGX 8 million) and 300 currency points (UGX 6 million).
Why the lower floor was necessary
The old penalty was tied to 'the tax due', which only made consistent sense for VAT-registered businesses where the tax due is usually the VAT on a transaction. Once EFRIS expanded to non-VAT sectors, many transactions had no identifiable tax due, making the penalty impossible to calculate and apply consistently. The Parliament FPED3-26 committee report explains that the 2026 amendment fixes this by introducing a fixed minimum of UGX 200,000 that applies uniformly to all businesses, VAT-registered or not, while the double-the-tax-due basis still scales up for larger taxpayers.
What the UGX 200,000 floor does not protect against
The headline relief is real, especially for non-VAT businesses. But the proportional component moved from 'the tax due' to 'double the tax due'. If you are VAT-registered and issue a large invoice without EFRIS, the penalty can still be twice the VAT on that transaction, well above the UGX 200,000 floor.
Not a licence to skip EFRIS
For a VAT-registered business, a single large undocumented sale can still trigger a penalty equal to twice the VAT due.
The two new tax waivers in the same Act
- Section 47C: any tax, including penal tax and interest, owed by a taxpayer as at 30 June 2016 and still outstanding is waived.
- Section 47D: interest and penalty outstanding as at 30 June 2025 are waived where the taxpayer pays the principal tax by 30 June 2027.
Buyer-side EFRIS risk remains
On the buyer side, the risk has not changed: an expense from a gazetted-sector supplier that is not supported by a valid e-invoice or e-receipt is not deductible for income tax, and input VAT claims fail without a valid fiscal document. Our separate EFRIS buyer-side due diligence guide explains how to verify supplier e-invoices before payment.
What to do now
- Confirm whether your sector is covered by EFRIS after the 1 July 2025 expansion.
- If registered, issue e-invoices/e-receipts and reconcile transaction data before filing.
- For buyer-side spend, verify supplier e-invoices before payment to protect income tax deductibility and VAT input claims.
- If you have pre-2026 outstanding interest or penalties, assess whether the Section 47D waiver applies and pay principal by 30 June 2027.
Effective date and returns
URA has confirmed that the 2026 tax amendment Acts are effective 1 July 2026. Taxpayers should review and adjust returns, PAYE, Excise Duty, Withholding Tax, VAT, and Gaming Tax, for July 2026, August 2026 and going forward. The Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2026 and Excise Duty (Amendment) Act 2026 were returned by the President, reconsidered by Parliament, and assented on 20 August 2026, backdated to 1 July 2026. For broader enforcement context, see URA's 22 compliance red flags for FY2026/27.
If you are also reviewing your VAT status under the new threshold, see what the UGX 300 million VAT threshold means for your business.