Uganda imposes tax on foreign digital companies' income

KAMPALA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Parliament of Uganda has passed a new law that imposes a 5 percent tax on the income earned in the East African country by foreign digital companies, such as Facebook and Twitter.

"The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 will tax non-resident providers of digital services in Uganda such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Netflix, etc.," the parliament said in a brief statement on Twitter Tuesday evening.

Some legislators, however, criticized the bill, saying it might lead to an increase in the prices of internet services and gag social media users.

The finance committee of the parliament insisted that the bill "is not a social media tax and will not affect an ordinary Ugandan in any way," according to the statement.