Spatial based tax information prototype

Abstract

Tax compliance is a mandatory requirement for Taxpayers (Non individuals and Individuals). Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has a mandate to ensure Tax compliance for the declaration and payment of Taxes. In turn, a taxpayer must ensure tax compliance by fulfilling their obligation to report income and pay taxes. In cases where the taxpayer does not fulfill their obligations, URA will try to ensure compliance. Through these efforts, URA relies on the location of the taxpayer which could be a business premise, rental property, natural resource, agriculture etc. This project focused on Rental income on which rental tax is due. The aim was to address the spatial challenges that hinder tax enforcement i.e. difficulty in identification of ownership and lack of a consolidated geographic view. The project reviewed recent literature on GIS in taxation and how spatial technologies are used in taxation. The main objective of the project was to develop a spatial database and a web based GIS that can be used to visualize and query taxpayer spatial and non-spatial data. It was found that relating taxpayer attribute data and third party ownership details to buildings produced a tax base map which could inform enforcement of tax compliance in regards to the location and ownership of the property. To create a visualization platform, data (satellite imagery, open source building information, city authority and utility data) was acquired cleaned and mapped. After which the design and implementation of the spatial database using a PostgreSQL was done. PostgreSQL is an open source object relational database management system. The visualization of data happened through the development of a Web GIS using an apache server, in which the Geoserver package is installed. It serves the application files to browsers and queries the database in response to requests made within the web GIS application. The spatial data was published as a Web Map Service (WMS). The project developed a system with an intuitive and simple user interface to enable non-specialist users to operate the system without any additional training. The project has managed to meet the set-out goals of developing a spatially based tax information prototype. Going forward visualisation of other tax heads, the use of an Application Programming Interface for acquiring third party data should be considered. It is also necessary to create a mobile application to be used for navigation and capturing of data.