Taxman says that while the country has lost billions, smuggling had significantly reduced over the last five years.
According to the URA, Super Match and SMS are the most smuggled brands.
Smuggling of cigarettes, especially the Super Match brand from Kenya, has been on the increase in the last six months.
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) would have netted more than Ush200 billion (about Sh5.46 billion) from the cigarette trade alone but only got Ush74 billion (Sh2 billion) due to a surge in cigarette smuggling last year.
In a media briefing yesterday in Kampala, Mr Vincent Seruma, the URA assistant commissioner public and corporate affairs, said illicit importation of cigarettes occasions serious revenue losses to the exchequer.
“Cigarettes are high value. It enters the country through roguish ways which we are aware of. We have invested significantly in intelligence to break the rackets,” he said.
In the last six months, the URA said it had conducted several interceptions and recovered smuggled goods via the consolidation centre in Kisaasi, a suburb, north east of Kampala.
According to the Ugandan taxman, Super Match and SMS are the most smuggled brands.
The illegal trade had significantly reduced over the last five years having been so rampant in the late 90s and early 2000s.
From Kenya
However, according to Ms Agnes Nabwire, the URA assistant commissioner enforcement, smuggling of cigarettes, especially the Super Match brand from Kenya has been on the increase in the last six months.
Two suspects, according to URA, have since been arrested and two cars, which are suspected to have smuggled in 3,628 boxes of cigarette impounded.
In a bid to grow and support local manufacturers, a high tax component on all cigarette imports was imposed. However, because of this, many importers instead resorted to illegal channels to bring in goods thus killing the local industry capacity.
“When the industries are not producing because of illicit trade the country stands the risk of losing which will frustrate local industries,” Ms Nabwire said, adding that they are doing everything possible to contain smuggling.
In the last five years, the URA has also battled to kick illicit tobacco sales that results in the loss of billions in revenue.
For instance, between 2014 and 2016, URA seized more than 650 tonnes of tobacco, which partly informed the tax body’s initiative of a 10 per cent reward of the value of any seized tobacco and its products.
Apart from losing revenue, counterfeit tobacco products have a negative impact on health since their quality cannot be assessed.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than six million people die every year from tobacco-related ailments.
