Africa - International Tax and Investment Center

FOUR AREAS OF TRAINING

Transfer Pricing MNEs Getting it Right

Tax Treaties & Double
Taxation Conventions:
Their Role, Negotiation &
UPCOMING EVENTS
2015
VAT Workshop, 29 - 31 July (Pretoria)
Tax Treaties, 5 - 9 October (Vienna)
Excise Workshop, 18-19 November
(Mozambique)
Transfer Pricing Workshop, December (TBC)
Implementation

Value Added Taxes or
Goods and Service Taxes

Excises
CONTACT DETAILS
For more information on future events:
Suggestions for other areas are
www.wu.ac.at/taxlaw/institute/academy-of-
welcome.
public-finance/en/
Institute for
Austrian and International Tax Law,
WU (Vienna
University of Economics and Business)
Welthandelsplatz 1, Building D3
1020 Vienna, Austria
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +43 1 313 36 5066
Fax: +43 1 313 36 90 5240
Promoting policy dialogue and training for tax officials
in the Africa region
THE AFRICAN ACADEMY OF PUBLIC FINANCE
“The Academy of Public Finance
has been designed to have a unique
appeal to governments – something
that they can get nowhere else…
where Government, Business &
Academia interface.”
The Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law, the African Tax Institute
(ATI), EY, the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC), with support from
the World Bank Group, are delighted to have launched the:
Jeffrey Owens, Director of the WU
Global Tax Policy Center
Academy of Public Finance
SCOPE OF THE PROGRAM
1. TAX ACADEMY TRAINING OF
OFFICIALS: the first element of the
program is to provide training of tax officials. These courses are jointly designed
The program is initially aimed at emerging economies in the African region. It
complements existing programs of other international organisations.
by the Institute for Austrian and Interna-
The program is designed as a public/private partnership platform that brings together public sector officials with academics and the private sector. It is not designed to be a “one off”, but as a platform for sustained engagement. Our aim is
to create a unique space for real-world discussions to improve the proinvestment quality of tax policy, legislation, administration and the capacity of
tax administration.
World Bank Group, with input from other
We have a unique appeal to governments and offer something that they can get
nowhere else. Whereas many other training programs that are offered to the
government officials tend to be purely instructive and do not include a private
sector / business dimension - this program is intended to be an interface between government, business and academia encompassing policy dialogue, research and training.
2. REGIONAL POLICY DIALOGUE —
tional Tax Law, ATI, EY, ITIC, and the
partners.
BUSINESS TAX FORUM: bringing together a small group of MNEs which oper-
ate throughout the region from different
sectors. The Business Tax Forum provides
a neutral platform for a discussion benot
engage
in
country
or
company-
specific issues.
Expected Outcomes
Practical Focus
tween business and government but does
All the modules are intended to focus on the practical issues encountered by tax
officials and are taught by people who have a broad experience in these areas.
While there is a lead faculty for each module, they are supported by a varied
team of experts that bring together a diverse set of experiences, including experience of working in a host country. The supporting faculty has experience in
business, government, and international firms. To ensure that the program reflects the needs of the participant countries, EY undertakes a quick survey of the
major issues confronting corporations and tax administrations in the African
region. The World Bank Group also makes available the outcome from its diagnostic toolkit on which “gaps” exist in the Tax System of each participant country.
Each module aims to be very practical and incorporates sessions where people
from the business world are invited to a roundtable discussion in order to share
their experiences, discuss business models, explain how investments are evaluated and decided upon, and discuss tax and its role in investment decision making.
The idea is for this program to bring together people with different sets of experiences in order to stimulate the exchange of opinions and dialogue that most of
the time would not be a part of standard business practice in these markets.
This three-year program is
expected to lead to greater
mutual understanding between business and government in the tax area, building up the capacity of tax
administrations in the participating countries so that
they are better equipped to
deal with the application of
international and domestic
tax rules and to promote a
more fact-based political
dialogue on the role of taxation in our societies.
3. UNDERTAKING OF TAX RELEVANT
RESEARCH: relevant to improving the tax
environment.
Independent research pa-
pers are prepared, coordinated by WU
(Vienna University of Economics and Business) with input from other research insti-
tutes, as a basis for discussion and/or to
inform public opinion.