Tax Administration Advisor

Belgian Technical Co-operation (BTC)
Closing date: 08 Nov 2009
Location: Mozambique - Maputo

Tax Administration Advisor for the follow-up of the “Tax Administration Reform Common Fund, Mozambique” - Ref: MOZ/07/015

Location: Maputo – Mozambique
Duration of the agreement: 36 months
Expected starting time: As soon as possible
Gross monthly salary: between 5185,40 euro and 7330,09 euro (expat benefits inclusive: hardship allowance and expat allowance). The exact salary is determined in function of family composition and the number of years of relevant experience.

Context:

A Common Fund has been established in order to support the Tax Administration Reform process engaged in Mozambique. The overall objective of Mozambique is to use this budget support in order to develop an efficient and modern Revenue Authority (Autoritade Tributaria de Moçambique) able to achieve the wider revenue collection targets of the Government and hence, to support its poverty reduction efforts and gradually decrease its high level of aid dependence.

The Tax Administration Reform Common Fund pools budget resources from several donors, including Belgium and will be managed by the Autoridade Tributaria de Moçambique. The operation of the Tax Administration Common Fund is guided by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by all participating donors, the Government of Mozambique, Ministry of Finance and Autoridade Tributaria de Moçambique and relevant observers such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Position:

The Belgian contribution to the Tax Administration Reform Common Fund is governed by principles and guidelines set out in 4 documents:

- The Budget Support Vademecum;
- The Bilateral Agreement on the contribution of Belgium to the Tax Administration Reform Common Fund;
- The Implementation Agreement between the Belgian Directorate General for Development (DGD) and BTC;
- The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the members of the Tax Administration Reform Common Fund (Mozambique, Belgium, UK, Switzerland).

The expert will ensure the follow up of the Belgian contribution on the basis of these documents. In Mozambique, he will be located at BTC Representation. He will work under direct supervision of the BTC Resident Representative. They will hold regular meetings with the DGD Attaché on the progress of the activities and disbursements operated under the Common Fund.

The expert will keep the contact with BTC headquarters both with regard to disbursement decisions and to general progress of the Tax Administration Reform.

More particularly, the expert will undertake the following tasks:

1) The follow-up of the Belgian contribution to the Tax Administration Reform Common Fund:
- Participating in the Partner Committee of the Tax Reform Fund;
- Reporting on progress and disbursements; this includes checking the conditionalities and giving advice on the disbursement of Belgian instalments;
- Paying specific attention to mitigating risks as described in the Tax Administration Reform technical note;
- Coordinating with other donors in the Tax Administration Reform Common Fund and ensuring harmonized positions;
- Assessing the compliance of the Autoridade Tributaria de Moçambique with the requirements set in the MoU and the bilateral agreement (planning the activities, progress and financial reporting and audit).;
- Assisting in drafting the ToR for Quality Assurance Group Missions;
- Preparing and supporting backstopping missions and reviews from BTC HQ and DGD.

2) Active participation in the policy dialogue on issues related to tax policy and tax administration through:
- Participating in the Tax Working Group, the Private Sector Working Group and the Budget Working Group;
- Participating in the Joint Review and Mid-year Review missions;.
- Carrying out analytical work on fiscal policy and tax administration reform in Mozambique;
- Giving support to reviews of IMF and other relevant observers;
- Proposing and supporting analytical work in the tax field, to be executed via various financing mechanisms;
- Assisting the Attaché in the policy dialogue.

3) Supporting the follow up of the Belgian contribution to the Common Fund for the Reform of the State Financial Management System in Mozambique (SISTAFE CF).

4) Supporting capitalisation of Belgian interventions through exchanging expertise and programme results with other Belgian actors involved in budget support modalities.

Qualifications and experience required

- University degree (Master/Licentiate), preferably in Economics;
- Preferably 5 years of professional experience in the area of tax administration reform, including in large-scale public sector reform initiatives (additional experience in tax policy is an advantage);
- Experience with basket/pooled/common funds is a serious asset;
- Experience of coordination between multilateral/bilateral donors is an asset;
- International experience, preferably in developing countries;
- Knowledge of the context and specific experience in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is an advantage;
- Excellent knowledge of Portuguese; BTC will support a serious commitment to engage a learning process in this language before departure if necessary;
- Working knowledge of English and French or Dutch;
- Demonstrated interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills;
- Cooperative and networking attitude and experience of working in multi-disciplinary team settings.
How to apply
Interested ?

Please apply no later than 08/11/2009, through our web site www.btcctb.org

If you have any additional question, please contact us at 02/505 37 90 or at humres@btcctb.org

The exact salary is determined in function of family composition and the number of years of relevant experience.