The OTT tax was introduced in Uganda on 1st July 2018 and little did Ugandans know they will be digging into their pockets to facilitate the work of their members of parliaments, the same legislators that passed the amended the law.
Recent reports show parliament has apparently awarded telecom giant MTN Uganda a contract worth over 197 million to provide monthly 5GB data for the 458 MPs worth 30000 shillings. MTN will also provide monthly Over The Top (OTT) Tax aka Social Media Tax worth 6000 for each member of Parliament.
The tax drew outrage from the public and many people opted to use VPNs to paying the service as per past reports from UCC which showed declines in tax subscriptions and payment between July and September 2018.
Brief History of OTT Tax
For those who might have forgotten, On May 30th, 2018, the parliament of Uganda approved the social media tax that requires every social media user to pay Shs 200 daily to access over the top services mostly social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others.
The Tax was first suggested by President Yoweri Museveni in a letter to the ministry of Finance and was later passed by parliament in the excise duty amendment alongside a tax on Mobile Money Transactions.
