How to pay OTT tax in Uganda for MTN, Airtel & Africell

how to pay social media tax
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Telecommunications companies in Uganda have set aside a special USSD short code for paying OTT tax as of the public notice that was released by Africell , Airtel and MTN a few days ago.

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Effective starting from 1st July 2018 , the government of Uganda will be charging UGX 200 for ott tax from all social media users in Uganda . This article will show you how to pay for ott taxes in Uganda on mtn, airtel & Africell .

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How to pay OTT tax in Uganda on MTN, Airtel & Africell.

MTN allows you to pay ott tax via its mobile money USSD code by dialing *185*2*8# whereas with Airtel you can use airtel money USSD code *185*2*5#. Follow the instructions as deemed by the mobile money service providers and you’ll receive a notification once the operation is successful . Follow the step by step procedures below to pay ott tax for MTN , Africell and Airtel .

With the social media tax , you can choose to pay a daily fee UGX 200 , weekly fee UGX 1400 or pay for the whole month at fee UGX 6000 .

Access will  be granted to customers who have paid taxes up to midnight.

dodge social media tax

Step by step process of how to pay OTT tax

How to pay ott tax on MTN

To pay ott tax on MTN Uganda , you’ll need to follow some of the following guided steps below .

Step 1 : Dial *165*2*8# and select pay for this number . Remember this differs depending on situation , if you want to pay ott tax for a friend , you can easily use the second option . MTN also allows you to pay ott tax for Africell .

pay social media tax

Step 2 : Next select the social media tax you’re interested in paying for at the moment . This can either be daily tax (200/=) , weekly(1400/=) or monthly (6000/=) . You can’t pay the yearly package at the moment .

pay ott mtn
choose package to pay social media tax

Step 3 : After selecting with suitable package , confirm the process by entering your mobile money pin code . If you’re not satisfied by the package , you can press zero to return .

enter mobile money pin

After the above three steps , wait for some few minutes and you’ll receive a notification from MTN confirming the tax you’ve just paid to URA for OTT Tax .

SMS notification for social media tax

How to pay ott tax on Airtel .

If you want to pay ott tax for airtel in Uganda , follow the guided procedures below .

Dial *165*2*5# social media tax

Step 1 : Dial *165*2*5# and you’ll be asked to select from the two options pay for self or pay for another . Choose the option that suits you better .

select option pay social media tax

Step 2 : In this step , select a package of your choice from daily social media tax (200/=) , weekly tax (1400/=) or monthly (6000/=) . Remember you can’t pay for yearly social media tax as yet .

select package social media tax uganda

Step 3 : After selecting ott tax package of your own choice , confirm the transaction by entering you airtel money pin code in the space provided and press enter .

confirm social media tax pay

You’ll shortly receive a message from airtel confirming you’ve just paid OTT service tax to URA . After this , you can now access social media accounts shortly .

How to pay ott tax on Africell

Social media taxes can only be paid using MTN mobile money or Airtel Money . So if you’re Africell user , you’ll use one of the two mobile money operators in Uganda .

In the procedure below we have used MTN mobile money to pay for ott tax on Africell .

Step 1 : Dial *165*2*8# and select the option Africell tax from the options . At the moment of writing this , it seems the service has some issues –it’s on and off .

Step 2 : Select the ott tax package of your own choice from the daily , weekly or monthly package and press enter.

Step 3 : In the last step , confirm the transaction by entering your MTN mobile money pin code .

You’ll receive a message shortly from MTN confirming you have just paid social media tax to URA . After that , you can now instantly access your social media platforms in Uganda .

How to check ott balance on airtel

To check ott balance on airtel uganda, dial *175*4#. You will get a notification showing your ott balance and data balance.

How do i pay ott with airtime airtel

You can only pay for ott with two methods via airtel money by dialing either *165*2*5# or using the *185# code or buy data bundles with ott tax included.

How do i buy MTN ott using airtime

You can only as well buy mtn ott with only two methods via mtn mobile money by dialing either *185*2*8# USSD shortcode or using the *165# code or buy data bundles with ott included.

How to check ott balance on different number

Unfortunately you cant check OTT status for a different number. You will have to dial the code on that particular number to check ott balance on the number.

How to check ott balance on MTN

  • Dial *150#, then send
  • Select option 3 (Pay OTT)
  • Choose option 6 (check OTT balance)
  • Select option 1. (Check for this number)

alternatively you can just dial *150*3*6*1# at once

How to check ott balance on Africell

To check ott balance on africell, dial *133*6#, then select option 4. You’ll receive a notification of your africell ott balance. alternatively you can just dial *133*6*4# to check ott balance on africell.

SMILE – OTT Tax

If you’re a smile network user , smile in their recent press release confirmed paying OTT service tax for all it’s customers . Perhaps it’s time you got yourself a Smile Line .

“We have got you covered!! Following the introduction of OTT tax, commonly referred to as “Social Media Tax” that was effected 1st July 2018 by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), we are pleased to inform you that as a valued customer of Smile, we will pay this new tax on your behalf. Just continue to purchase and use Smile Bundles like you used to in the past. There is NO need for additional subscription steps to access and enjoy Social Media services from Smile!!”

Who is supposed to pay the social media tax ?

The tax affects any user who uses Over The Top (OTT) services in Uganda . OTT services are sites that offer voice and messaging services over the internet . These include Facebook , twitter , whatsapp , viber and dating sites .

So starting from 1 st July 2018 access to OTTs will be blocked and only those that have paid the social media tax will be allowed to access them .

Payment of the tax will be made directly by the customer using MTN and Airtel Mobile Money and access will be granted immediately . If you’re an africell user , you can pay social media tax via any of the two mobile money service providers mentioned above .

Is their any other way i can pay social media tax in Uganda apart from mobile money ?

Currently the only available options to pay social media tax in Uganda are through the MTN and Airtel mobile money services only .  This applies to Africell and other telecommunication companies. Below is the social media tax public notice by MTN , Airtel and Africel .

how to pay social media tax uganda

Will I have to pay for social media tax when using WiFi ?

Currently the social media tax is levied on sim cards that use OTT but not WiFI operators . So you won’t pay social media tax until further notice .

What are the OTT services?

OTT services to have been defined to mean “the transmission or receipt of voice or messages over the
internet protocol network and includes access to virtual private networks”

Which OTT services have been affected by the social media tax ?

The following OTT services have been affected by the recent social media taxes in Uganda . These include some of the following ;

WhatsAppFacetimeSkype
FacebookAndroid MessagesBadoo
TwitterNew MessengerHitwe
TruecallerTextraSayHi
Google HangoutsInstagramiPair-Meet
Google AlloWiCallTumblr
ViberWeChatKik
SnapchatInMessageChatouts
LINETrueCallerGrindr
Phone+Hi5LiveTalk
Call FreeFreevideo – Mail.RuZalo
SignalTextMeKakao Talk
StealthChatTalkUMood
TinderLOVOOGoogle Plus
MeetMeDrupeLinkedIn
TelegramImoBlackBerry Messenger
IM+Hangouts DialerVoxer Walkie Talkie
IMessengerCallerIDHike
Yahoo MessengermagicAppMoments
If you want to dodge social media tax read this how to dodge social media tax in Uganda .