DURBAN - Edward Kieswetter, The South African Revenue Service (Sars) Commissioner, has been appointed as Vice-Chair of the Africa Initiative by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
The appointment of Kieswetter was announced on Friday 11 December by the OECD Global Forum Chair Maria Jose Garde.
Garde also announced Commissioner-General of the Kenya Revenue Administration, Githii Mburu, as the Africa Initiative Chair.
Commissioner Kieswetter expressed his gratitude to the Committee for this important assignment and stressed the importance of tax transparency and cross-border exchange of tax information to ensure greater tax compliance.
This latest appointment follows the election of Kieswetter as Vice-Chairman of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF).
The Africa Initiative is a programme of work focusing on tax transparency and exchange of information (EOI) in Africa.
The initiative was launched during the plenary meeting of the Global Forum in 2014 by African members of the Global Forum along with other partners.
Since its launch, Africa Initiative has accentuated two strategic pillars to strengthen the benefits of tax transparency and EOI in Africa.
The first pillar aims to raise political awareness about the benefits of tax transparency and EOI in order to gain the necessary political buy-in and commitment from African decision-makers.
The second pillar of the Africa Initiative aims to create awareness and build the capacity of tax administrations in tax transparency and EOI.
For 2021 and beyond, the Africa Initiative will:
- Continue to build political awareness throughout Africa;
- Help new members implement the Core Stage of tax transparency and EOI;
- Consolidate the progress achieved by members since 2014;
- Increase its efforts on transparency of beneficial ownership information and the automatic exchange of information (AEOI);
- Explore with interested members enhanced building blocks, such as the cross-border recovery of tax claims.
The Africa Initiative is open to all African countries and currently has 32 African member jurisdictions.
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