MPs regret imposing taxes on diapers

Members of Parliament have expressed regrets over their decision to impose tax on diapers, which they initially claimed were being used to promote homosexuality in Uganda.

MPs led by Flavia Kabahenda (Kyewgegwa DWR), are now admitting that the tax has instead made diapers expensive for the elderly and people with disabilities, who rely on diapers in order to protect their dignity in society.

Speaking at the World Disability Day in Mbarara,Kabahenda noted that the people with hydrocephalus and spina bifida, are living on pampers and these pampers have become expensive from the time parliament slapped a tax on them.

“I think we made a mistake as Parliament to impose taxes on diapers because we thought we would help parents to reduce use of diapers in order not to spoil their children, but we have discovered that there are elderly people who need to use diapers and there are also people with disability that rely on diapers in order to protect their dignity in society. So, I want to implore my fellow MPs to allow us to rescind the tax on pampers,” said Kabahenda.

Prosper Muhumuza the Commissioner in Charge of Disabilities at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, said 12.4% Ugandans are living with disabilities and of these, over 2 million are children living with Hydrocephalus and Spina bifida and families of these children spend 39% of their income on caring for these children.

Rose Obigah (Terego DWR) asked MPs not to go back and forth with the diapers tax, arguing that the tax was imposed because diapers are a luxury and there was a need to reduce their excessive use because diapers had started to impact on fertility of men in Uganda.

“People from Karamoja and my village (Terego district), they perform well, their fertility lasts longer but you see these men brought up in good homes, they have challenges with sperm count. It was on that ground that we wanted to reduce this excessive use of pampers. Diapers are a luxury, we would prefer to use nappies,” said Obigah.

It should be noted that last year, legislatures approved a tax on diapers and rejected a proposal to exempt payment of taxes on adult diapers.

This was contained in the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 which the lawmakers passed on Thursday, 04 May 2023.

The Bill proposed exemption on payment of tax on adult diapers but the Members of Parliament put up a spirited fight against the proposal.

Efforts by the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Jane Pacutho and the Minister of State for Finance, Hon. Amos Lugoloobi to convince MPs to exempt payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) on adult diapers were resisted.