Evaluation of property tax administration in Uganda: A Case study of Kampala Capital City Authority

Abstract

The study intention was to investigate the key factors that influence property tax administration in Uganda, a case of KCCA. The study was motivated by the fact that property tax administration is key area to widen tax base in many countries as recommended by many scholars. The study was guided by three research objectives which include; to establish the impact of public sensitisations and awareness campaigns on property tax performance and administration in Uganda, to establish the impact of property tax enforcement practices employed to achieve compliance on the tax head performance and its administration and to establish the challenges faced by the public complying with their property tax obligation in Kampala. The study adopted a case study research design with both qualitative and quantitative approach. Units of analysis were staff at KCCA Offices located on Plot 1 – 3 Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road, Kampala, Uganda. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire and interview guide. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 to generate descriptive statistics. Findings from the study indicated that majority of the respondents agreed that public sensitization and awareness campaigns on property tax influence voluntary taxpayer compliance, elimination of ignorance of taxpayers about tax laws and procedures to change their attitude, ease property tax administration, understand tax laws and procedures. The effect of property tax enforcement were act as the catalyst for tax administration, eliminates tax evasion and avoidance, accelerates tax administration and arouse stress which influence taxpayers to obey the tax administration. Challenges were lack of expertise, non-involvement of stakeholders, inadequate awareness, limited facilitation, corruption, unskilled staff in sensitization and limited awareness due to illiteracy. The study recommends that KCCA should sensitize the taxpayers, involve all stakeholders, recruit skilled staff and increase on funding of property tax enforcement department to influence effective property tax administration.