By Sekaggya Seka Moses
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is clashing with Kuku Foods Uganda Ltd, the operator of KFC, after a dramatic raid on the company’s Kampala offices on November 19, 2025.
The URA officials, accompanied by armed personnel, were investigating discrepancies in declared income between 2019 and 2022.
In a strongly-worded letter to URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi, Kuku Foods protested the raid, calling it “exceptional in character, disproportionate in execution and wholly inconsistent with the standards expected in the lawful administration of tax matters”.
The company claims that the URA bypassed mandatory procedures under the Tax Procedures Code and that staff were kept under watch until 1 am, creating an atmosphere of alarm.
The company expressed dismay at the manner in which the raid was conducted, stating that it “bore no resemblance to a routine tax inquiry” and “mirrored a security raid”.
Kuku Foods questioned whether the URA had issued an information notice that remained unanswered, and if not, how the deployment of armed personnel could be justified.
The URA, however, maintains that the surprise visit was necessary to obtain critical information for the investigation.
Anonymous officials cited the potential for evidence tampering if Kuku Foods had been informed in advance, stating that “this is a big tax investigation involving billions of shillings and we are not leaving anything to chance”.
Kuku Foods also objects to the URA’s decision to reopen taxes for 2019-2022, arguing that the period had already been conclusively audited and settled.
The company received an Audit Management Letter on March 21, 2023, and all assessments were settled. Reopening the period, the company wrote, requires “credible evidence of fraud, willful neglect or material misrepresentation… none of which were articulated in the notice or presented during the visit”.
The company warned that if previously audited periods can be revived without explanation, it signals that administrative decisions lack permanence and that the boundaries of URA’s authority are being inconsistently applied.
This unpredictability, Kuku Foods stated, is “fundamentally incompatible with stable business planning and long-term investment”.
Kuku Foods has remitted over Shs 24.7 billion in taxes to the government in the past ten months, including Shs 1.4 billion in PAYE, Shs 1.1 billion in income tax, Shs 2.6 billion in withholding tax, Shs 12.7 billion in VAT, and Shs 6.9 billion in import duties.
The company has also invested significantly in Uganda, purchasing over Shs 43 billion worth of goods and services from Ugandan suppliers and investing Shs 18.3 billion in capital expenditure on new and refurbished outlets.
This dispute follows a Tax Appeals Tribunal ruling in April 2025, which denied Kuku Foods’ request to restrain URA from adjusting its tax losses.
The tribunal held that Kuku Foods had “not met all the conditions necessary for the grant of the temporary injunction”, though the company was not required to pay 30% of the disputed tax because a final assessment had not been issued.
The underlying dispute originated from a URA audit covering March 2018 to February 2022, which reduced Kuku Foods’ declared tax losses from Shs 16.8 billion to Shs 8.3 billion after citing undeclared income and disallowed expenses.
The company challenged the findings under TAT Application No. 287 of 2024.
Kuku Foods Uganda, which holds exclusive rights for the KFC brand, operates outlets in Kampala and forms part of Kuku Foods East Africa Holdings, the franchise operator in Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
Have An Advert Or Article You Want Us To Publish? Whatsapp: +256786288379 or email binocularugnews@gmail.com
