One Person, One Tax Number: Uganda Launches Historic Shift From TIN to NIN as 2.1 Million Taxpayers Already Mapped

KAMPALA — For years, Uganda's tax authority has been chasing a ghost problem of its own making. One person, multiple Tax Identification Numbers — registered under different names, different addresses, different combinations of identifying information — each one a separate door through which a taxpayer could slip when URA came knocking on another.
"You would find one person with 10 TINs," URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi Rujoki told delegates at the NIRA My Identity Expo and Symposium 2026 at Kololo Independence Grounds last week. "So when they are demanding him on one, he uses another one, making it difficult for us to do our job."

On Sunday, October 4, 2026, URA confirmed that 2.1 million of its 5.7 million registered taxpayers have already had their Tax Identification Numbers mapped to their National Identification Numbers — the first concrete measure of progress in a reform that Cabinet approved on September 1, 2026 and that both URA and government ministers are describing as one of the most significant public administration overhauls in Uganda's recent history.
What Is Changing — and Why
The principle behind the reform is simple. Every Ugandan individual already has a National Identification Number — a unique nine-digit code issued by the National Identification and Registration Authority. Every individual taxpayer also has a Tax Identification Number issued separately by URA. From January 1, 2027, those two identifiers will merge into one: the NIN becomes the primary tax identifier, and the standalone TIN is retired for individuals.
Non-individual taxpayers — companies, partnerships, NGOs and other entities — will use their Business Registration Number from the Uganda Registration Services Bureau in place of a TIN.
The reform closes the loophole that made multiple TIN registration possible. Because TINs could previously be obtained using different combinations of personal information without cross-referencing NIRA's biometric database, a determined taxpayer could accumulate multiple identities within URA's system. With the NIN as the sole identifier — tied to a biometric record that is unique and non-replicable — that option disappears.
"The reason why we are doing so is because people have been dodging paying taxes," Musinguzi said plainly. "Therefore, we are happy with NIRA for this transition."
The Scale of the Work Ahead
The 2.1 million mapped taxpayers represent significant progress — but also the scale of what remains. Of 5.7 million taxpayers currently registered in URA's system, 3.6 million have not yet had their TINs linked to their NINs. All of them must complete the transition before January 1, 2027 or face being locked out of URA's digital systems until their records are updated.

The deadline is firm. From January 1, 2027, taxpayers whose NINs have been mapped will access their URA accounts using their NIN. Those who have not completed the mapping will not be able to access URA services — including filing returns, making payments, applying for tax clearances or renewing business licences — until the update is made.
Ruth Anne Agwang, URA's Manager of Tax Register, who presented the 2.1 million figure at the NIRA symposium, called on taxpayers to complete the mapping voluntarily and promptly. "It is mandatory for users to first transition before accessing any URA service," she said.
Mapping can be done through the URA web portal — where the NIN update option has been made mandatory for any Ugandan taxpayer who has not yet updated when they attempt to access online services — as well as through URA offices across the country.
The Wider Numbers: Why This Reform Matters
The gap between Uganda's identification database and its tax register is one of the most revealing numbers in the country's fiscal landscape. NIRA has approximately 37 million people on its register. URA has 5.7 million taxpayers — just over 15 percent of the NIRA population. Of those 5.7 million, only a fraction are consistent active taxpayers.
Uganda's tax-to-GDP ratio — currently around 14 percent — is well below the regional average and significantly below what the government's revenue mobilisation ambitions require. One of the stated objectives of the NIN transition is to use the integration of NIRA and URA databases to identify the gap between people who are registered citizens and people who are registered taxpayers — and to bring more of those in the gap into the tax net.
"There is a significant opportunity to widen the tax base," Musinguzi said at the symposium, noting the contrast between NIRA's 37 million registered individuals and URA's 5.7 million taxpayers. The integration of both databases offers, for the first time, a systematic way to identify individuals who are of taxable income but not yet registered with URA.
What Taxpayers Must Do Now
Any individual Ugandan taxpayer who has not yet linked their NIN to their TIN must do so before January 1, 2027. The process is available through the URA web portal at ura.go.ug, through URA's mobile application and through any URA customer service centre.
For businesses registered with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, the Business Registration Number will replace the TIN as the primary identifier. Local authorities, government institutions and regulatory bodies — including URSB and the Uganda Investment Authority — will not issue business, trading or other licences to persons lacking a NIN, BRN or applicable foreign TIN from the reform's effective date.
For those who do not comply in time, the consequence is straightforward: no access to URA's systems until the update is complete. For businesses that rely on tax clearance certificates — required for government tenders, for certain banking transactions, for export documentation — that is not a theoretical inconvenience. It is a practical shutdown.
Three months remain. The 2.1 million who have already mapped are ready. The 3.6 million who have not should not wait.

Source DAILY MONITOR