Religious leaders in Uganda are up in arms over a decision by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to reverse its long-standing tradition not to impose taxes on religious literature.
According to Business Daily, the clerics are furious that the taxman has ordered them to start paying taxes on Korans, Bibles, prayer and hymn books, shelving their tax-exemption status.
They argued that the decision by URA to impose an 18 per cent VAT was akin to taxing the word of God.
“This government has gone too far in its collection of taxes. How can you tax the word of God? It should instead come in to assist in publishing these materials,” said Ramathan Mugalu, the secretary general of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council.
