The News: The government has scrapped an unpopular tax on television sets.
The Spin:  
Kampala, September – Owners of television sets in Uganda are dismayed that government has scrapped the television viewers’ licence fees that it introduced only recently.

The TV owners are particularly angry that the government has scrapped the fees, commonly known as TV tax, before giving them the opportunity to demonstrate their “patriotic eagerness” to pay.

“We are mad, very, very mad, because we were itching to pay this TV tax to increase our contribution to the GSP [Gross Swindled Product] of the country,” TOA spokeswoman, Dr. Boot Raw, told the analyst. She claimed that when the announcement came through that the tax had been suspended, she was on her way to pay.

“Some of our members had even sold their TV sets to pay the tax,” she said. “You can imagine how disappointed they were to learn that government didn’t want their money anymore.”

TV owners The Analyst talked to said that the tax was justified and they couldn’t understand why government had decided to abolish it.
“We all know that the treasury could do with a little more money to splash around, especially as elections approach,” a proud owner of a black and white TV set said. “Moreover, UTV service is exceptional.

How would we, were it not for UTV, follow the critical news of the president’s cows giving birth and the vice president’s rice getting harvested? UTV must be facilitated to bring us such fantastic news.”
As the TV tax has been retained only for hotel owners, some TV owners have vowed to set up hotels, if that is what it will take for them to pay the tax.

Meanwhile, hotel owners have confirmed to The Analyst that they can’t wait to pay the tax.
“We are very grateful that on top of all the taxes we pay, including VAT and operating licence fees, the government has found it necessary to extract more money out of us. We are ready to pay, if only because that will enable the Information minister and his boss save face,” one hotel owner observed.

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