PAC Chairperson Patrick NsambaBy Prisca Wanyenya The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has tasked the Ministry of Finance to provide a list of companies whose taxes were paid by government in the 2024/25 financial year, amounting to Shs357 billion.The matter emerged during scrutiny of the Ministry’s 2024/25 financial statements, after Elgon County MP Ignatius Mudimi noted that the Ministry closed the 2023/24 financial year with domestic arrears of Shs638 billion and incurred an additional Shs357 billion in domestic arrears in 2024/25.Ministry of Finance Undersecretary Edward Sengonzi Damulira told the Committee that over 96 percent of the Ministry’s domestic arrears arise from taxes and contributions to international organisations.“I am on the wrong side of the law, but I am also on firm ground because where I sit, I only receive instructions of commitment to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), company this, company that, and I capture. There are companies where government has offered to pay taxes on their behalf. You would actually be unfair if you roasted me here,” Sengonzi said.His submission prompted PAC Chairperson Patrick Nsamba to demand the full list of beneficiaries, questioning why government is paying taxes for select firms while many Ugandan businesses are collapsing under tax burdens.“Which companies are those? Let us look at those companies, let us read one by one. Government is paying Shs357 billion. Can we read the companies one by one? Or you can tell us to go to a page in the financial statements. Let us see the lucky companies. The law stops the Ministry of Finance from committing government, and the Ministry that has been singing about the problem of domestic arrears has been the Ministry of Finance,” Nsamba said.With pressure mounting from MPs for the list, Nsamba called for calm and promised to allocate time to scrutinize the beneficiaries.The Ministry also came under scrutiny after Samia-Bugwe Central MP Richard Wanyama questioned why it operates 110 bank accounts yet only 38 subvention accounts had audited financial statements.Kasese Municipality MP Ferigo Kambale questioned the authenticity of the Ministry’s financial statements, noting that some accounts lacked supporting documents.“This is very serious. It is a requirement that when preparing financial statements, you attach bank reconciliation statements, which must be supported by certificates of bank balances. In the absence of certificates of bank balances, how can we confirm that the reconciliations you made are genuine? In the absence of those documents, you make us doubt what is reported in the statement of financial position,” Kambale said.The Committee also queried Shs498 billion in contingent liabilities captured in the Ministry’s books arising from court cases.Kambale wondered why the same figure has appeared for the past two years. Sengonzi attributed it to delayed disposal of cases in the Judiciary, which the Ministry has no control over, adding that the liabilities arise from suits filed by the Departed Asian Properties Custodian Board and non-performing assets.The post Who Are the Lucky Firms? PAC Probes Finance Ministry Over Shs357Bn Tax Incentives to Investors appeared first on Business Focus.