Indaba high-level African taxes for Vic Falls

Business Editor

ZIMBABWE will hold a two-day high-level conference on tax policy in Africa this week in Victoria Falls, aimed at empowering regional member states to respond adequately to the taxation of the economy. digital.

The African Forum on Tax Administration (ATAF) and the Zimbabwe Tax Authority (Zimra), supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB), are organizing the event to be held at a hotel on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube, will be a keynote speaker alongside his regional counterparts, leaders of ATAF, the African Union and the World Bank. Commissioners of African tax administrations and local business leaders are also ready to participate.

As a member of ATAF, Zimbabwe is hosting this event, after the successful renewal of its mandate by ATAF members at last year's annual event. This year, the regional tax authority is giving priority to developing an African response to taxation of the digital economy.

"Many African countries have expressed concerns about the fiscal challenges they face as their economies are increasingly digitized," ATAF said.

"The challenges posed by digitization concern both direct and indirect taxes. With regard to direct taxes, the question is whether current international tax rules adequately address the problems created by digital commerce, such as social media, markets and search engine platforms.

"In terms of indirect taxes, the consumption of services can take place in different parts of the world, which creates a problem as to where to tax consumption."

As such, ATAF stated that the purpose of this high-level dialogue is to bring together key stakeholders from the Ministries of Finance and Tax Administration to form a proposed network that will ensure the coordination of tax policy and administration decisions and actions in the ever-changing context. global fiscal environment.

"Through a process of consultation and dialogue, the meeting will identify priorities and key tax issues for collaboration between finance ministries and tax administrations. The framework will ensure a critical engagement on the objectives, impact and implementation of key policies, "he said.