The network covers Uganda within the East Africa region. Payslips there are drawn up in UGX, and dealings with a local firm are conducted in English and Swahili.
The business centres where the network is looking for a correspondent as a priority are Kampala, Entebbe, Gulu, Jinja.
The country lies outside the European Union and outside the European Economic Area: the A1 certificate has no standing there. Whether the employee remains in the scheme of origin then depends on the bilateral social security agreement, if any, concluded with the sending country; where no such agreement exists, dual affiliation must be expected and budgeted into the assignment.
The answer to this question changes everything: it determines to whom you may entrust your payslips locally, and what you must ask for before signing. It has been verified country by country with the local authorities.
In Uganda, running payroll on behalf of third parties is a regulated activity. It is carried on under the title of Certified Public Accountant of Uganda (CPA(U)) titulaire d'un practising certificate, and a registration in force must be produced to you before any engagement.
Oui. L'Accountants Act 2013 fait de l'ICPAU, cree par le Parlement en 1992, le regulateur statutaire des comptables et auditeurs professionnels. L'exercice de la comptabilite pour le public suppose l'obtention d'un practising certificate delivre par l'ICPAU, et les cabinets doivent eux-memes etre enregistres et figurer au registre tenu par l'Institut. La paie n'est pas nommee comme acte reserve, mais elle s'accompagne des declarations PAYE et NSSF, qui relevent de la pratique comptable reglementee.
Uganda is a common law jurisdiction with a written labour law whose most notable reform concerns social affiliation. The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is the mandatory retirement savings scheme for private sector employees; the 2021 reform removed the headcount threshold that previously limited its scope, so every employer, including one with a single employee, must be registered and must contribute.
A foreign national recruited on a Ugandan contract comes within the same arrangement once work authorisation is in place, and no exemption attaches to short assignments.
Salaries are paid in Ugandan shillings through the local banking system. The official language is English, used for contracts and administrative documents alike, Swahili also being a national language.
Public practice of accountancy is regulated: the Accountants Act 2013 makes the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) the statutory regulator, and practising in a firm requires both an individual practising certificate and registration of the firm with the Institute.
NSSF no longer admits any exemption based on company size: every employer, including one with a single employee, opens an employer account before the first hire.
The Uganda Registration Services Bureau registers the entity, and the local authority for the place of business issues an annual trading licence that should not be confused with registration itself. The tax identification number is then obtained from the Uganda Revenue Authority.
Beyond a certain length of engagement the contract must be in writing and state the essential terms. Working time, leave, the probationary period and the rules governing termination are reviewed at that stage, in particular the duty to hear the employee before any dismissal decision is taken.
Work permit and residence authorisation are handled through immigration where the employee is a foreign national, with the permit class depending on the nature of the role.
Two levies sit on the payroll. PAYE is deducted by the employer for the Uganda Revenue Authority; local service tax is withheld as well, an income-based levy paid over to the local authority and frequently overlooked by foreign employers. NSSF contributions are monthly.
The final reckoning, the cessation filing and, for an expatriate, the consequences for the permit close the file, the permit not surviving the employment that supported it.
The network asks 10 documents of any firm wishing to represent it in Uganda. The table gives, for each of them, the exact wording in use locally, the body that issues it and the period during which it remains admissible. These are the terms to use in an application to the local administration.
Of these 10 documents, 9 are required of every applicant and 8 have a limited period of validity, the shortest being 3 months. 2 of these documents exist only in Uganda and have no equivalent in the common core of the network.
| Local wording | Issuing body | Validity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Incorporation + Company Search ReportCertificate of Incorporation and company search report Le certificat d'incorporation est perpetuel ; le company search report, delivre par l'URSB via son portail en ligne, donne la situation a jour des dirigeants et actionnaires. Demander les deux. | Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Annual Return (Companies Act 2012)Annual return filed with URSB Obligatoire sous le Companies Act 2012 ; l'accuse de depot le plus recent prouve que le cabinet n'est pas dormant. | Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Trading LicenceTrading licence Le Trade Licensing Act impose une licence annuelle a toute entreprise exercant sur le territoire d'une collectivite. Elle est distincte de l'immatriculation nationale et souvent oubliee par les candidats. | Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) ou administration locale du siege | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) et, le cas echeant, VAT Registration CertificateTaxpayer Identification Number / VAT registration certificate Le TIN a 10 chiffres est delivre par l'URA. L'assujettissement a la TVA est obligatoire au-dela du seuil annuel de chiffre d'affaires, seuil qu'un cabinet de services depasse rapidement. | Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC)Tax Clearance Certificate Se demande dans l'espace contribuable du portail URA et se verifie en ligne. Valable en principe pour l'exercice fiscal ougandais (juillet a juin). | Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| NSSF Clearance CertificateNSSF clearance certificate Le NSSF propose un service Clearance Certificate en ligne aux employeurs. Depuis le NSSF Act de 2021 l'affiliation vaut pour tout employeur, quel que soit son effectif, avec 5 % a la charge du salarie et 10 % a celle de l'employeur. | National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Uganda | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Professional Indemnity Insurance certificateProfessional indemnity insurance certificate Pratique courante des cabinets titulaires d'un practising certificate, mais je n'ai pas trouve de disposition de l'Accountants Act 2013 qui l'impose expressement : la traiter comme exigence contractuelle du reseau. | Assureur agree par l'Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda (IRA) | 12 months Where applicable | Official website |
| ICPAU Practising Certificate + registration of the firm as an accountancy practiceICPAU practising certificate and firm registration L'Accountants Act 2013 confie a l'ICPAU la reglementation de la profession ; exercer suppose un practising certificate valide et l'enregistrement du cabinet. L'ICPAU tient un registre public des praticiens et des cabinets, a consulter pour verifier le candidat. | Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| National Identity Card (Ndaga Muntu) ou passeportNational identity card or passport La carte nationale est exigee pour l'obtention du TIN et les demarches a l'URSB ; un passeport est accepte pour un dirigeant etranger. | National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Certificate of Registration as a data collector, processor or controller (PDPO)PDPO registration certificate Obligatoire au titre du Data Protection and Privacy Act 2019 et de ses reglements de 2021, y compris pour une entite etablie hors d'Ouganda qui traite des donnees de citoyens ougandais. Un rapport annuel sur les violations de donnees est egalement exige. Je n'ai pas trouve de source officielle confirmant la duree exacte de validite du certificat : la faire preciser. | Personal Data Protection Office (PDPO), au sein de la NITA-U | 12 months Required | Official website |
Three annual documents renew in parallel and must all be current at once: the annual return filed with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, the local authority trading licence and, for a practice, the ICPAU practising certificate. A file in which one of the three has lapsed is incomplete, however impeccable the other two.
From July to June runs the Ugandan fiscal year, which explains why the Tax Clearance Certificate carries dates that appear out of step with the calendar year. There is no anomaly in that.
The registration duty owed to the Personal Data Protection Office extends to entities established outside Uganda that process the data of Ugandan individuals. A network hosting Ugandan payroll abroad is therefore directly concerned, and the point is addressed when the arrangement is set up rather than at the first inspection.
Trois pieces annuelles se renouvellent en parallele en Ouganda et doivent toutes etre a jour : l'annual return a l'URSB, le trading licence de la collectivite locale et le practising certificate de l'ICPAU. Le TCC de l'URA suit l'exercice fiscal ougandais, qui court de juillet a juin, ce qui explique des dates d'apparence decalees. Le NSSF Act de 2021 a supprime le seuil des cinq salaries : tout employeur, meme d'un seul salarie, doit desormais cotiser, et un cabinet qui n'a pas de compte NSSF est en infraction. Enfin, l'obligation d'enregistrement aupres du Personal Data Protection Office vise aussi les entites etrangeres traitant des donnees ougandaises : elle concerne donc directement un partenaire du reseau qui hebergerait la paie a l'etranger.
The network opens 3 partner slots in Uganda, not one more. No firm is listed there yet: all 3 slots therefore remain open to applications.
No listed partner in Uganda has asked to appear in the public directory. The contact details of a firm are passed on to the client only when an assignment is awarded.
Filing an application does not amount to admission: every request is reviewed one by one. There is no minimum turnover requirement, and the partner selected invoices its fees directly.
Submit an application: we review your file, we check the documents required on the ground and we give you an answer, whether it is positive or not.
A Ugandan candidate firm must produce the individual practising certificate issued by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda and evidence that the firm itself is registered with the Institute, the two being distinct. The file comprises the Uganda Registration Services Bureau certificate together with the annual return, the current trading licence, the tax identification number, the URA Tax Clearance Certificate, the NSSF Clearance Certificate, and proof of registration with the Personal Data Protection Office. We check that these annual documents fall due on dates that are consistent with one another.
Describe your requirement. No firm is listed in Uganda yet: we review the request, then entrust it to a local firm that the network identifies and vets, or to the partner of a neighbouring country covering this territory. Your contact details are passed on to the selected firm alone.
Request a provider in UgandaMobility is rarely arranged one country at a time. The neighbouring profiles follow the same outline.
These countries account for most of the requests received: each one has, in addition to its profile, six pages devoted to a single aspect of local payroll.
The information gathered on this page comes from the registers, administrations and bodies listed below, consulted when the reference base was compiled. It is given for guidance and does not replace the advice of a professional established in Uganda.