Kuku Foods Uganda, the franchise holder for KFC in the country, has raised alarm over what it calls an overly aggressive and intrusive tax raid conducted by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).
In a protest letter dated November 20, 2025, addressed to URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi, the company claims the operation violated legal procedures and strayed from standard administrative practice.
According to Kuku Foods, URA officials—accompanied by armed security—stormed its Kampala offices on November 19 and remained on the premises from morning until nearly midnight.
The company alleges the officers “forcefully extracted electronic information from company devices without prior notice and under armed supervision.”
Kuku Foods argues that although the law empowers URA to enter a taxpayer’s premises, such authority should be exercised following a clear procedural sequence that typically starts with a written request for information. The company says no such request was issued and insists it has not defaulted on any statutory obligations.
The dispute between Kuku Foods and URA has been ongoing for several years.
In its submissions to the tax body, the company reported major operating losses over a four-year period from March 2018 to February 2022. These losses were initially declared at about Shs 8.3 billion but were later revised to approximately Shs 16.8 billion after what the company describes as a more accurate review of its financial records, reflecting increased expenses and lower income.
URA, however, rejected parts of the revised filings, disallowing several of the claimed expenses. The authority consequently reduced the recognized losses from a reported Shs 21.3 billion to Shs 8.3 billion.
URA also issued additional tax assessments, including Value Added Tax (VAT) and withholding tax, amounting to Shs 3.4 billion — effectively placing extra tax liabilities on the company.
