The short answer
These eight calculators answer the questions Ugandan business owners ask most: what VAT to charge or strip out, what PAYE and NSSF to deduct, whether EFRIS applies to you, what a loan really costs, how much of a loan book is at risk, whether an idea makes a profit, and what a website or app should cost.
They are free, they need no sign-up, and none of your figures leave your phone or computer. Each one shows the formula it used, so you can check it, argue with it, or send the result to your accountant. If you would rather the figures produced themselves every day, that is what a POS or business system does.
The calculators
| Calculator | What it answers | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| VAT calculator | Add or remove 18 percent VAT, and the invoice total | Anyone issuing an invoice or checking a supplier bill |
| PAYE calculator | Net pay after PAYE, NSSF and Local Service Tax | Employers and staff checking a payslip |
| EFRIS checker | Whether URA requires you to issue e-receipts yet | Any business unsure about the sector rules |
| Loan calculator | Instalment, total interest, flat versus reducing balance | Borrowers comparing offers, and lenders pricing loans |
| Portfolio at risk calculator | PAR 1, 30, 60 and 90, provisions and collection rate | SACCOs, microfinance and money lenders |
| Business profit calculator | Gross and net margin, break-even and payback | Anyone testing a business idea or a price change |
| Website and app cost calculator | A price range for a website, store, app or system | Anyone about to commission a build |
| OTA commission calculator | What Booking.com and the agents cost you in a year | Hotels, lodges and guesthouses |
Two of them settle arguments more often than the rest. The EFRIS checker answers a question that costs money to get wrong, because the penalty from 1 July 2026 is double the tax due or UGX 200,000, whichever is higher. The profit calculator shows the month a business starts paying for itself, which is the figure most plans skip.
How to get a straight answer out of them
- Use your own figures, not the example ones. The examples are there to show the shape of the answer.
- Put in the bad month, not the good one. A business that survives its worst month survives.
- Include the costs owners forget: rent, the licence, transport, airtime, packaging, spoilage, and your own pay.
- Check the formula shown under the result. If it does not match how your trade works, the answer will not either.
- Save the result by sending it to yourself on WhatsApp before you close the page.
Tax figures change. Every calculator shows the date its rates were checked, and the rules behind them are explained on the VAT guide, the PAYE guide and the EFRIS guide.
What they cannot do
A calculator works out one figure from the numbers you type. It does not know your bank balance, your stock, or the customer who has owed you since June, and it cannot file anything with URA.
- They are a guide, not a ruling. For a decision that turns on your own circumstances, confirm with URA or a tax adviser.
- They do not keep your figures. Close the page and the numbers are gone, which is good for privacy and bad for records.
- They cannot see errors in what you type. Rubbish in, confident rubbish out.
If you find yourself typing the same figures into a calculator every week, that is the point where a system pays for itself: it already has the sales, the stock and the costs, so it can produce these numbers daily without anyone retyping them.
What to set up first
Tools do not fix a business that has no records. The order that works, with honest costs:
- The basics, which are not free. Registering a business name with URSB costs about UGX 90,000 in official fees (agents charge several times that), a TIN from URA is free, and the trading licence depends on your trade and council. See what registering really costs.
- The free habits. Business money kept separate from personal money, a daily record of sales and expenses, WhatsApp Business with a catalogue, and a Google Business Profile so people find you.
- A system, once there is stock to lose or staff at the till. Growth Informer Business records every sale, tracks stock and does the daily cash-up, with EFRIS switched on when URA requires it. See what a POS system does.
- A website, once customers look you up before they come. See how to create a business website.
- Help, when something is already live. If a penalty or an assessment has landed, read the notice for its deadline first, gather the records it names, and then talk to us: we are registered with URA as a tax agent.
Frequently asked questions
Are these calculators really free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no email needed and no limit on how often you use them. They run in your browser, so your figures are not sent to us or to anyone else.
Do you store the numbers I type in?
No. The calculations happen on your own device and nothing is saved. If you choose to send a result to us on WhatsApp, only what you send arrives, and you can edit it before pressing send.
Are the tax rates current?
Each calculator shows the date its rates and rules were checked, and names the rule it applied. Uganda changed several rules on 1 July 2026, including the VAT registration threshold and the PAYE bands, so check the date before relying on an old bookmark.
Can I use these instead of an accountant?
For everyday questions, yes. For a filing, an audit, an assessment or anything that turns on your own circumstances, no. The calculators show the working so an accountant or a URA officer can follow it, which is the point.
Can my system produce these numbers automatically?
That is what a POS or business system is for. Once sales, stock and costs are recorded as they happen, the profit, the VAT and the daily cash-up come out on their own. Tell us what you run and we will show you what it would look like with your own figures.