CO-Fair Recovery Strengthened CSOs -Ugan Currently, DRM in Uganda is largely characterized by inequitable tax policies and practices that promote the interests of thecorporations and the rich at the expense of the poor and marginalised.There is limited capacity of government institutions (i.e.,Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, UgandaRevenue Authority, and Local Governments) to equitably broaden the narrow tax base. This is because the legal and policyframework is still skewed towards attracting foreign direct investment, which encourages overreliance on taxes such as personalincome tax, VAT and excise duty which has increased the tax burden on the same categories of people hence perpetuatinginequality.The framework also promotes tax incentives and exemptions despite the lack of clear guidelines for the granting of such incentivesand lack of cost-benefit analysis conducted. The country has also greatly suffered from revenue loss through IFFs in the form oftax avoidance and evasion as well as corruption.IFFs have been facilitated by the “race to the bottom” through tax incentives and exemptions in the region and have also beenfacilitated by the adoption of harmful double taxation agreements (DTAs). For example, the Panama Papers leak (2016) revealedhow Heritage Oil Company decided a month after the execution of its Sale and Purchase Agreement with Tullow Oil to move itsdomicile from Bahamas to Mauritius with a view of avoiding paying capital gains tax using the DTA between Uganda andMauritius.In the extractives sector, the legal frameworks provide limited transparency. The counties that host mining operations generallybenefit too little from the extraction despite the need for public investments to better the lives of citizens and to finance a justenergy transition.The challenges of DRM have been exacerbated by the limited engagement ofrights-holders in revenue mobilization andaccountability processes. The contributing factors include the limited capacity of key stakeholders to participate in policyformulation processes atdifferent levels. There is little public understanding of the nexus between DRM, service delivery,democratic governance, and their role in grassroots policy formation.The allocation and utilization of the mobilized revenue in many instances has also frustrated DRM efforts in Uganda as there areconcerns around efficiency of spending andelite capture of public budgets.There are also limited spaces for citizen engagement in the formulation of tax policies. This is partly attributable to the fact thatprocesses have remained a domain of a few government officials and experts who have also not had commitment to mainstreamrecommendations of key policy guidelines. This limits citizens’ appreciation of the need for citizens to pay taxes to enablegovernment to raise revenue.There are also weak CSO platforms and alliances for engagement of different stakeholders including citizens, the CSOs andgovernment on issues related to DRM. Currently, SEATINI Uganda hosts and coordinates the Tax JusticeAlliance, which is aloose coalition of 43 CSOs whose objective is to mobilise citizens to influence fair, progressive and accountable tax policies, andpractices in Uganda. However, the network has several CSOs who need to build their capacity to be able to effectively promotefiscal justice.