Ugandan Finance Committee Recommends Shs18.84bn Tax Waiver for NewPlan Limited

Uganda's Parliament Finance Committee has recommended the cancellation of Shs18.84 billion in tax arrears owed by NewPlan Limited, an engineering consultancy involved in oil, gas and electricity projects in the country. In a majority report presented to Parliament, the committee said the company was in severe financial distress, with its net worth having fallen "into deeply negative territory" and its remaining assets appearing insufficient to support further recovery efforts by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). "Further conventional recovery is unlikely to be cost-effective," the committee said.

The committee recommended a waiver of Shs18,835,401,578 under Section 43 of the Tax Procedures Code Act, which permits remission of tax where recovery would cause hardship, undue difficulty or excessive expense. NewPlan's outstanding liability stood at Shs18.86 billion as of March 12, 2025. URA later updated the company's tax ledger, raising the arrears by Shs295.05 million to Shs19.16 billion as of August 4, 2026. The committee said the additional amount had not been adequately explained by the Ministry of Finance and would continue attracting interest and penalties. It consequently advised Finance Minister Matia Kasaija to limit the waiver to the amount formally presented to Parliament and to submit, within two months, an update on URA's strategy for recovering the additional Shs295.05 million.

The committee was informed that NewPlan previously had a VAT liability of Shs28.3 million as of June 30, 2016, but that amount was waived following the enactment of Section 47C of the Tax Procedures Code Act. NewPlan attributed its financial difficulties to cash-flow disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the company had expected additional work from TotalEnergies under the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, according to the report.

NewPlan was established in 1995 as NORPLAN, initially a joint venture between Ugandan engineer Omulen Lawrence Levy and NORPLAN Norway. It was renamed NewPlan Limited in 2008. Records from the Uganda Registration Services Bureau show that NewPlan Engineering Group Limited controls 94% of the company, while Judith Tukei and Isaac Wassanyi Serukenya each own 3%.

The company has handled consultancy and engineering assignments in several strategic sectors. It served as the main contractor for EACOP land acquisition and has worked with McDermott on the central processing facility in Buliisa district. The company has also provided consultancy services for more than 900 megawatts of electricity projects, including Karuma, Isimba and several mini-hydropower plants. The tax-waiver request was among four items revived in July after parliamentary business pending at the expiry of the 11th Parliament was reinstated through a motion moved by Parliamentary Commissioner Faith Nakut Loru. Parliament must approve the committee's recommendation before the waiver can take effect.