The African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) has received financing from the African Development Fund toward the cost of the Regional Institutional Support Project for Public Financial Governance – Phase II (RISPFG) and intends to apply part of the agreed amount for this Grant to payments under the contract for Telecommunications Sector Auditing Expert.

The services included under this project are :

• Developing and delivering learning products for tax auditors to increase their understanding of the steps involved in conducting a tax audit of the Telecommunications Sector, including the sub-sectors listed above,
• Sharing audit good practices to put in place to foster tax compliance of taxpayers operating in the sector,
• Providing audit skills and techniques on how to detect incomplete and inaccurate tax declarations submitted by taxpayers operating in the sector.

The Individual expert is expected to have among others the following qualifications and key competencies :

• Master’s degree in relevant field
• Have a good understanding and evaluation of the telecommunication tax regime from a tax audit perspective including the taxes payable, the activities, actors, tax incentives, domestic tax issues
• A minimum of 5 - 10 years of working experience as tax auditor or tax advisor or tax accountant in telecoms, or any other relevant areas in Sub-Saharan Africa and more than 5 years in consulting
• Demonstrate an experience in developing the technical capacity, including strong mentoring/ coaching/training skills
• Have a good understanding of audit processes and techniques in : performing tax audits, in reviewing a file and planning an audit, in auditing financial books and records, compiling audit report and preparing quality tax assessments
• Have a good level of understanding and interpretation of tax legislation as well as the telecommunication regulatory framework
• Possess a proven experience in the examination of a taxpayer’s financial statements, tax returns, accounting records and source documents in order to identify areas of high risk or non-compliance and determine the required tax adjustment to make and calculate the correct amount of tax to be paid by the taxpayer
• Master the sector specifics, the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as well as the examination process and procedure and the types of checks in order to determine the correct tax liability
• Possess knowledge in audit tools for data interrogation and fraud detection would be an added value
• A sound understanding of telecommunication sector would be valued
• Ability to provide both theoretical (60%) and practical (40%) training
• Excellent strategic and analytical skills, ability to maintain confidentiality, and fluency in French and Portuguese are added advantages.