Uganda capital gains tax calculator

There is no separate capital gains tax and no flat individual rate. A gain on a business asset is included in business income under section 18(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act and is added to your chargeable income, then taxed on the resident individual schedule: for 2026-27 the schedule starts with a nil band up to UGX 4,020,000, then 20%, 25% and 30%, with an extra 10% on chargeable income above UGX 120,000,000. A company pays 30% on the same gains.

A capital gain that is not included in business income is exempt, with two exceptions: a gain on the sale of shares in a private limited liability company and a gain on the sale of a commercial building are taxable even for a private holder. A private individual's gain on shares listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange, on crypto or on an owner-occupied home is outside the charge only because it is neither business income nor one of those two excepted classes.

A taxable disposal held twelve months or more has its cost base indexed by CPI, using the formula CB x CPID / CPIA, where CPID is the index for the calendar month of sale and CPIA the index for the month immediately before the cost was incurred (section 50(3)). A sale within twelve months of purchase uses the unindexed cost base (section 50(4)).

Uganda has no separate capital gains tax legislation. A gain on the disposal of a business asset is included in business income by section 18(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act (Cap 340) and is taxed with the individual's other income on the resident individual schedule; the URA states the same on its capital gains page. Section 50(1) defines the gain as the consideration received for the disposal less the cost base of the asset. Sources: https://ura.go.ug/en/taxation-of-capital-gains/ and https://ura.go.ug/storage/2023/08/10580_DT_LAWS_JULY_2021.pdf

'Business asset' means an asset which is used or held ready for use in a business, and includes any asset held for sale in a business and any asset of a partnership or company (section 2(h)). The charge therefore turns on the character of the disposal, not on the kind of asset: land, shares or crypto held as a private investment fall outside business income, while the same asset used or held ready for use in a business is within it. The calculator asks the user to state this character on each disposal. Source: https://ura.go.ug/storage/2023/08/10580_DT_LAWS_JULY_2021.pdf

The First Schedule to the Act exempts from tax 'any capital gain that is not included in business income, other than capital gains on the sale of shares in a private limited liability company or on the sale of a commercial building'. A private individual's gain on shares listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange, on crypto or on an owner-occupied home is therefore exempt only because it is neither business income nor one of those two excepted classes: the exemption is conditional on the character of the gain and on the asset, not an unconditional securities exemption. Sources: https://ura.go.ug/storage/2023/08/10580_DT_LAWS_JULY_2021.pdf and https://ura.go.ug/en/taxation-of-capital-gains/

Where a gain or loss on disposal of an asset is subject to tax, the cost base is indexed by the formula CB x CPID/CPIA, where CB is the item of cost or expense, CPID is the Consumer Price Index number published for the calendar month of sale and CPIA is the CPI number for the month immediately prior to the date the item was incurred (section 50(3)). The adjustment does not apply to an asset sold within twelve months from the date of purchase (section 50(4)): a sale on or after the twelfth-month anniversary is indexed, a sale before it is not. Sources: https://ura.go.ug/storage/2023/08/10580_DT_LAWS_JULY_2021.pdf and https://ura.go.ug/en/taxation-of-capital-gains/

No gain or loss is taken into account in determining chargeable income for a transfer of an asset between spouses; a transfer between former spouses as part of a divorce settlement or bona fide separation agreement; an involuntary disposal to the extent the proceeds are reinvested in an asset of a like kind within one year; the transmission of an asset to a trustee or beneficiary on the death of the taxpayer; or capital gains arising from the sale of the investment interest of a registered venture capital fund where at least fifty percent of the proceeds are reinvested within the year of income (section 54(1)). Source: https://ura.go.ug/storage/2023/08/10580_DT_LAWS_JULY_2021.pdf

A capital loss on the disposal of a non-depreciable business asset, land or a building, or shares or a commercial building is an allowable deduction; the URA's guidance states this. The Act keeps a single gains and losses computation (Part VI) and an assessed loss is carried forward and allowed as a deduction in the following year of income (section 38). No separate personal capital-loss pool or fixed carry-forward period is stated in the Act or the URA capital gains guidance reviewed, so this calculator nets capital losses against the year's capital gains and carries any excess forward without a time limit. Sources: https://ura.go.ug/en/taxation-of-capital-gains/ and https://ura.go.ug/storage/2023/08/10580_DT_LAWS_JULY_2021.pdf

There is no flat capital-gains rate for an individual: the taxable gain is added to chargeable income and taxed on the resident individual schedule in force for the year (see the income-tax record for the year). For a company the same gains are added to gross income and taxed at the standard corporate rate of 30%. Individual rates changed on 1 July 2026 with the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2026, so the marginal rate applied to a gain varies by year of income. Sources: https://ura.go.ug/en/taxation-of-capital-gains/ and https://ura.go.ug/en/changes-to-paye-return-form-following-the-income-tax-amendment-act-2026/