Uganda
Uganda: 5 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment.
Forming a company
Company types in Uganda
The 5 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Uganda. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Uganda.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Uganda: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Uganda belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- African Continental Free Trade Area
- Free trade area · since 30 May 2019
Covers goods, services.
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means a Member State that has ratified or acceded to this Agreement and for which the Agreement is in force
- East African Community customs union and common market
- Single market · since 7 July 2000
Covers goods, services, establishment, capital, movement of people, a common external tariff.
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The Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Burundi acceded to the EAC Treaty on 18 th June, 2007 and became full Members of the Community with effect from 1 st July, 2007.
- COMESA Free Trade Area
- Free trade area
Covers goods.
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Burundi and Rwanda joined the FTA on 1st January 2004.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 30%Official ura.go.ug as of 2026-10-15 · the rate for the Private company limited by shares
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limited liability companies, companies limited by guarantees, associations and Non-Government Organizations among others are taxed under the company taxation regime.
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Every company appoints an auditor at each annual general meeting (s.163(1)); no small-company exemption found in the Act.Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-15
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Every company shall at each annual general meeting appoint an auditor
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- UGX 55,000Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-15
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Registration of annual returns of a private company with nominal share capital ( Company limited by shares)
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Uganda, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- Not in our recordsThe tax authority’s pages have not been read for Uganda.
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Uganda, tax year 2026, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 6 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
URA 'File a Tax Return': income tax returns are filed within six months from the end of the financial period — a taxpayer with a 30 June accounting date files by 31 December.
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Annual returns i.e. Income Tax, within six (6) months from the end of the financial period e.g. taxpayers with 30th June as the accounting date, the deadline to file returns is 31st December every year.
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 6 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
URA public notice of 19 June 2026: final income tax returns and payment are due under the Income Tax Act by 30 June 2026 for the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 — six months after the year of income. The payment falls due with the return.
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that the following tax obligations are due under the Income Tax Act by 30 th June 2026
- Corporate tax, instalments
- 6 months after the end of the tax year · twice a year
URA public notice of 19 June 2026: at 30 June 2026 the 1st instalment falls due for non-individuals whose accounting period commenced on 1 January 2026 (six months in) and the 2nd for those whose period commenced on 1 July 2025 (twelve months in) — two instalments at the sixth and twelfth months of the year of income. The rule records the first instalment; form DT-2004 gives the same two-instalment rule.
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that the following tax obligations are due under the Income Tax Act by 30 th June 2026
- Personal income-tax return
- 6 months after the end of the tax year · each year
URA 'File a Tax Return': income tax returns are filed within six months from the end of the financial period; for individuals whose year of income is the calendar year ending 31 December this is 30 June of the following year.
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Annual returns i.e. Income Tax, within six (6) months from the end of the financial period e.g. taxpayers with 30th June as the accounting date, the deadline to file returns is 31st December every year.
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 6 months after the end of the tax year · each year
URA public notice of 19 June 2026: final income tax returns and payment are due under the Income Tax Act by 30 June 2026 for the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 — six months after the year of income. The payment falls due with the return.
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that the following tax obligations are due under the Income Tax Act by 30 th June 2026
- Personal income tax, instalments
- 3 months after the end of the tax year · each quarter
URA public notice of 19 June 2026: at 30 June 2026 the 1st instalment falls due for individuals whose accounting period commenced on 1 April 2026 (three months in) and the 2nd for those whose period commenced on 1 January 2026 (six months in); the notice also lists the 3rd (period commenced 1 October 2025, nine months) and 4th (1 July 2025, twelve months). Form DT-2003 states the estimated tax is remitted in four equal instalments payable by the end of each quarter. The rule records the first instalment.
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that the following tax obligations are due under the Income Tax Act by 30 th June 2026
- VAT return
- Day 15 of the following month · each month
URA VAT page: a registered person files a VAT return within 15 days after the end of the month and pays the VAT arising within 15 days after the end of the month. The 'File a Tax Return' page states the same monthly deadline.
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File a VAT return within 15 Days after the end of the month.
- Payroll withholding
- Day 15 of the following month · each month
URA 'File a Tax Return': monthly returns — VAT, withholding tax, PAYE, local excise duty — are due on the 15th day of the month following the return period.
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Monthly Returns i.e. VAT, WHT, PAYE, LED. This is the 15th day of the month following the return period
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Uganda yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Uganda exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Uganda’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold (including gold plated with platinum), unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form HS 7108 | 33.6% | 50.4% | 47.4% | US$4.2 bn |
| Coffee, whether or not roasted or decaffeinated; coffee husks and skins; coffee substitutes containing coffee in any proportion HS 0901 | 16.0% | 12.0% | 16.6% | US$1.5 bn |
| Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted HS 1801 | 1.3% | 1.4% | 3.8% | US$334 m |
| Cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose, in solid form HS 1701 | 2.7% | 0.93% | 1.8% | US$162 m |
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, other than crude; preparations not elsewhere specified or included, containing by weight 70 % or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations; waste oils HS 2710 | 1.9% | 1.6% | 1.6% | US$140 m |
| Ceramic flags and paving, hearth or wall tiles; ceramic mosaic cubes and the like, whether or not on a backing; finishing ceramics HS 6907 | 0.55% | 1.9% | 0.99% | US$88 m |
| Portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement, supersulphate cement and similar hydraulic cements, whether or not coloured or in the form of clinkers HS 2523 | 1.5% | 1.1% | 0.97% | US$86 m |
| Dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned or split HS 0713 | 1.7% | 0.69% | 0.86% | US$77 m |
| Cereal flours other than of wheat or meslin HS 1102 | 0.87% | 0.61% | 0.83% | US$74 m |
| Fish fillets and other fish meat (whether or not minced), fresh, chilled or frozen HS 0304 | 1.3% | 0.75% | 0.81% | US$72 m |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$8.9 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.