ATAF’s digital library a valuable resource on African tax matters
African Tax Administration Forum • May 28, 2020
28 May 2020, Pretoria, South Africa
– The African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) has launched a Tax Administration Library (TAL), a digital repository of publications produced by African tax administrations. This online library, the first of its kind, will enable users to access a wide range of materials produced by ATAF member countries, thus promoting knowledge sharing and peer learning. The TAL aims to serve as a central repository of home-grown knowledge and experience on African tax administration and tax policy which will become a valuable resource for its members and other stakeholders.
By having access to information from other ATAF member states, African tax administrations can learn from their peers about the good practices, successful reforms and policy initiatives they have implemented and leverage these in seeking to improve tax systems in their own countries.
Academics and other researchers will have access to key documents from tax administrations across the continent, thus making it easier to conduct cross-country research, comparisons and benchmarking and pinpoint areas in tax policy and administration that warrant further research. Researchers from ATAF Secretariat and member countries will also use the TAL publications to substantiate ATAF’s African Tax Outlook (ATO) annual publications and related research papers by providing explanations to tax trends observed in member countries.
The TAL will also provide the ATAF Secretariat and other players such as TADAT assessors and development partners one central place to access many of the documents they require to carry out desktop research in preparation for their field visits, country missions and other interventions on the African continent. Access to other donor funded study reports can further help development partners avoid duplication of work and encourage collaboration in Africa.
The TAL digital library will house a wide range of publications produced by ATAF member countries. These publications are subjected to a vetting process by a panel comprising tax experts from the ATAF Secretariat, academics, and mandated tax administration officials to ensure that publications deemed beneficial to the ATAF membership and other stakeholders are selected.
Publications included in the digital library include, among other:
- Organisational publications such annual reports, strategic or corporate plans and monitoring reports
- Operational information such as tax expenditure reports, revenue mobilisation strategies, project evaluation reports, revenue analysis reports/revenue performance reports and tax statistics reports and concept notes for key projects.
- Research documents such as research papers, donor funded study reports, journal articles, policy briefs, working papers and essays.
- Communication and Tax Education material such as newsletters, bulletins, fact sheets, curriculum manuals, cartoons and comics and other relevant material.
- Legal documents such as Taxation Acts/Legislation and amendments. It is intended that, at a later stage, the TAL will also include publications of tax decisions of appeals and applications adjudicated upon by the courts in ATAF member countries. These cases, coupled with the Taxation Acts, legislation or amendments to the acts will permit peer review of major tax laws and facilitate the collection of regional and continental precedence of major tax cases which can inform the drafting of model tax laws.
- The launch of the TAL is particularly timely as it has coincides with the lockdowns due to the global coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic which has forced many workplaces to close and migrate to online platforms to enable their employees to continue their work from home. Tax administrations too have had to adapt to these challenges while continuing their operations. The TAL offers tax officials, scholars, development partners and other stakeholders a wealth of information and data from key publications produced by African tax administrations at the click of a button.
How to access the TAL
The TAL can be accessed via the ATAF website https://www.ataftax.org/tax-administration-library. Users are required to register an account on the ATAF website. To do so click on the Research
tab on the home page and then click on Tax Administration Library. Users must register by clicking on the ‘register’ button of the TAL platform. Once registered users can click on the login button of the TAL to access the library.
You can also use the links provided below to register and login.
Registration link: https://myaccount.ataftax.org/register/.
Login link for users who already have an ATAF account: https://myaccount.ataftax.org/login/.
For more information:
Mr Frank Kalizinje – Programme Specialist: ATRN & EMT in Africa
Cell: +27 (0) 79 037 1261
Email: fkalizinje@ataftax.org
Or
Romeo Nkoulou-Ella – Communications Manager
Cell: +27 (0) 79 790 2960
Email: rnkoulouella@ataftax.org
The digital repository of publications is available in French
and Portuguese.
The ATAF Model Tax Agreement serves as a guiding instrument to help African nations negotiate treaties that better protect their interests, ensure fair allocation of taxing rights, and enhance domestic revenue mobilisation.
CEMAC and ATAF agreed to explore practical avenues for cooperation, including technical assistance, regional training programmes, and platforms for experience exchange.
A key outcome of the training was the heightened awareness among FIRS officials of the critical role data plays in modern tax administration.
The training aimed to strengthen the capacity of tax officials to detect, investigate, and prosecute financial crimes such as tax evasion, money laundering, and illicit financial flows. It focused on practical approaches to financial crime investigation within the tax context.
Mr. Logan Wort emphasized the critical role of taxpayers in fostering economic growth and sustaining public services.
Taxation is a key aspect to increase gender equality since tax is one of the building blocks of society. In particular, it creates domestic resources which are a major source of funding for economic development and empowerment.
ATAF emphasised the importance of harmonised tax systems and advocating for revenue-generation mechanisms that would sustain government finances while fostering trade liberalisation.
ATAF is gearing up for a highly anticipated event: the ATAF Women in Tax Network Leadership Conference. Set to take place in Cape Town, South Africa, on March 5-6, 2025, this conference promises to be a pivotal moment for women in the tax and economic sectors across Africa.
The ATAF Women In Tax Network (AWITN) pledge is a commitment by various countries to adopt a focused, gender-sensitive approach to tax policy and administration.
The workshop aimed to bridge the gap between tax authorities and the media, improving the clarity and accessibility of tax-related information to foster public awareness and boost tax compliance.
