Withholding tax on rent calculator
Choose who the landlord is and see whether the tenant must withhold anything, and how much.
Choose who the landlord is above to see the verdict.
Rates verified 2026-08-23. Confirm current rates with URA.
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This is a decision tree, not a percentage
"Withholding tax on rent" gets asked as if Uganda has one rate for it. It does not. Whether anything is withheld, and how much, depends entirely on who the landlord is, and that is the question this tool asks first, before it asks for a figure.
The one crisp number: 15% on a non-resident landlord
Income Tax Act s.83(1) taxes a non-resident person on Uganda-source rent, and it is collected by withholding: the tenant deducts 15% of the gross rent before paying the landlord. Section 83(2) makes this a final tax: it settles the landlord's Ugandan tax on that rent completely. There is nothing further to file on it and nothing to reconcile at year end.
Resident landlords: not withheld, still taxed
A resident individual landlord's rent is not withheld at source at all. It falls under the ordinary rental income regime instead: 12% of gross rent above the UGX 2,820,000 annual threshold, with no deductions of any kind. See the rental income tax calculator. "No withholding" here does not mean no tax; it means the tax is collected a different way, by the landlord filing rather than the tenant deducting.
A resident company's rent is likewise not withheld under s.83. It is reported as ordinary business income and taxed at 30%, with expenses deductible up to 50% of gross rent.
The one genuine grey area, named rather than guessed at
Section 119 requires anyone the Minister designates as a withholding agent (government bodies, government-controlled companies, and others named by notice) to withhold 6% on payments above UGX 1,000,000 "for a supply of goods or for a supply of services." URA's own published guidance on this rule does not say whether a lease of premises counts as a supply of goods or services for that purpose. Where content elsewhere states a confident answer either way, it is guessing. This tool does not guess: if your tenant is a designated withholding agent, that question goes to URA directly, and the calculator says so on the result rather than inventing a rate.
Rates verified 2026-08-23 against Income Tax Act Cap 340 and confirmed unamended by the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2026 (commencement 1 July 2026). Check ura.go.ug if you are reading this well after that date.
Common questions
Do I withhold tax on rent in Uganda?
Only if the landlord is a non-resident: withhold 15% of the gross rent, and it is a final tax under Income Tax Act s.83. There is no rent-specific withholding on rent paid to a resident individual or a resident company.
What is the WHT rate on rent in Uganda?
15%, and only on rent to a non-resident landlord. It applies to the gross payment, and s.83(2) makes it the final tax on that income, so nothing further is assessed on it.
Do I withhold tax on rent to a resident individual landlord?
No. Their rent is taxed under the rental income regime instead: 12% of gross rent above the UGX 2,820,000 annual threshold, with no deductions, and it is not withheld by the tenant.
Do I withhold tax on rent to a resident company?
Generally no. The company reports the rent as ordinary business income taxed at 30%, with expenses deductible up to 50% of gross rent. A URA-designated withholding agent paying for a supply of goods or services above UGX 1,000,000 is a separate 6% rule under s.119, and whether a lease of premises falls inside it is not settled in URA’s published guidance. Confirm with URA directly if that applies to you.
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