The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) plans to appeal against a December 23, 2024 High court ruling which awarded Shs 709 billion to Heritage Oil and Gas Ltd.
The commercial division of the High court, presided over by justice Susan Abinyo, ordered URA to refund Heritage Oil the excess amount collected as capital gains tax (CGT).
The court ruled that URA had erroneously imposed a CGT of Shs 164.4 billion, along with Shs 542.5 billion in interest, after Heritage sold its exploration stake in Uganda to Tullow Oil.
This decision followed an appeal by Heritage challenging a 2010 Tax Appeals Tribunal ruling that had sided with URA. However, URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi has confirmed that, together with the Attorney General, the tax body has initiated an appeal against the latest ruling, stating that URA is not wholly satisfied.
URA has previously prevailed in this case on three occasions: at the Tax Appeals Tribunal, in an earlier High court ruling, and in arbitration proceedings held in London.
“There is no need for alarm. This is the same old case that was ruled on by the Tax Appeals Tribunal, where Heritage’s claim to avoid CGT was dismissed with costs. Their subsequent appeal to the High Court was also dismissed, and they then sought arbitration in London,” Musinguzi said.
He added that the arbitration ruling had also aligned with URA’s position, awarding the Government of Uganda $4 million (about Shs 14 billion).
“As far as I know, Heritage has never paid that money,” Musinguzi noted. “This was one of our grounds of objection as URA, seeking payment of the award first, because we had been searching for them in vain.”
Musinguzi emphasized that the case remains appealable and reiterated URA’s determination to pursue justice.
“It’s not fair that someone invests here, earns profits, and then refuses to pay taxes,” he concluded.