Who we are

ATAF will also foster relationships with its various development partners and donors to enhance the cooperation and collaboration with its partners and donors and to ensure long term financial sustainability of the organisation. The following six outputs aim to ensure that ATAF develops as an organisation with financial sustainable and robust processes in place.

• Objective I – Ensuring a financial sustainable and robust organisation
• Objective II – Driving regionalisation through bilateral and regional cooperation with tax stakeholders in Africa
• Objective III – Enhancing the capacity of todays and tomorrows African tax officials
• Objective IV – Technical assistance fosters efficient and effective African tax administrations
• Objective V – Providing data and knowledge on African tax matters and systems
• Objective VI – Being the African voice in the field of taxation that informs and influences regional and global policy

Mandate

In implementing its mission, ATAF shall:

• Improve the capacity of African tax administrations to achieve their revenue objectives;
• Advance the role of taxation in African governance and state building;
• Produce and disseminate knowledge on tax matters to inform policy and legislation formulation, foster transparency and accountability and improve revenue collection;
• Provide a voice for African countries on regional and global platforms and influence the international tax debate; and
• Develop and support partnerships between African countries and development partners.

With this mandate the organisation aims to:

• contribute to efficient and effective African tax administrations;
• contribute to efficient and effective African policy authorities; and
• influence the international tax debate for standards in Africa’s interest.

ATAF Theory of Change:

OBJE​​​CTIVES OF THE AFRICAN TAX ADMINISTRATION FORUM (ATAF)

ATAF adheres to the following values:

• Dedication towards consolidating and strengthening stakeholder relations in order to advance African tax reform.
• Integrity by promoting accountability and transparency through adequate and effective systems of internal controls, risk management and good financial governance.
• Equity extended to all members to access high-quality learning resources and opportunities.
• Mutual respect in contributing towards a better Africa through a better understanding of the various tax policies and reforms.
• Courtesy afforded to all members to ensure that they jointly represent African interests internationally in promoting that the continent speaks with one voice on tax issues.
• Loyalty to all member and development partners to continuously sustain the development.
  Diversity and inclusiveness by ensuring equity, mutual respect and courtesy when undertaking our mandate.

The following strategic objectives have been defined for 2021 – 2025:

• Ensuring a financial sustainable and robust organisation.
• Driving regionalisation through bilateral and regional cooperation with tax stakeholders in Africa.
• Enhancing the capacity of todays and tomorrows African tax officials.
• Technical assistance fostering efficient and effective African tax administrations.
• Providing data and knowledge on African tax matters and systems.
• Being the African voice in the field of taxation that informs and influences regional and global policy.

In 2008, in the wake of the worst financial and economic crisis that rocked the world since the 1930s, the level of aid and foreign direct investment to the developing world, including Africa, fell significantly. A number of African countries realised the need to lessen reliance on overseas aid and for African states to take control of the continent’s development themselves through the mobilisation of domestic resources.

Critical to the successful mobilisation of domestic resources is a functional state with efficient administrative systems and good governance and an effective tax system.

These issues were discussed at an International Conference on Taxation, State Building and Development in Africa, which was held in Pretoria, South Africa in August 2008. The conference was sponsored by the revenue authorities of Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.

African countries who attended the conference were: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho. Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

One of the goals of the conference was to get off the ground an African initiative to strengthen tax administrations on the African continent… and so the ATAF seed was planted.

A year later, on 19 November 2009, 30 African Tax Commissioners signed the ATAF Agreement in Kampala, Uganda, formally establishing the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF).

The Road to Kampala – Key Milestones in the History of ATAF

A decade of impact on the African and international tax landscapes.

• From 25 Members in 2009 to 40 in 2022 and counting

From 25 Members at the time of its inauguration in November 2019, ATAF has gained significant ground in terms of its Membership. The organisation now counts 40 active members from all 5 sub-regions of Africa. This figure is set to increase further in the coming years as ATAF continues to assert itself as the African voice on tax matters.

• Over USD 1 billion raised in additional tax revenues

ATAF’s technical assistance initiatives have considerably helped boost the revenue of our members across the continent. Our revenue Authorities report an excess of USD 1 billion in additional revenues collected.  Some have even reported record-breaking figures such as USD 110 million collected from audits in 2 years only and USD 10 million collected from a single transfer pricing audit, as a result of ATAF’s interventions.

ATAF’s Technical assistance programmes currently consists of 20 country programmes (12 on cross border taxation and 8 on exchange of information). The country programmes have led to the reviewing of business structures and procedures, training of 500 auditors; implementation of Automatic Exchange of Information and EOI-Units and transfer pricing units in over 15 countries and revision of 28 transfer pricing legislation, new interest deductibility legislation, and new permanent establishment rules designed to reduce tax avoidance and evasion.

• Over 17 000 Tax officials trained

ATAF has improved the capacity of African tax administrations (over 17,722 policy makers, officials and parliamentarians have been trained) on tax audits and tax treaties; compliance risk management and fraud detection; tax and development; revenue forecasting and analysis to mention but a few.

• Africa’s voice

ATAF has significant regional and international visibility, has cooperated with international partners and played an active role in the global tax agenda over the last decade. So far, ATAF has participated in 72 regional, continental and global fora to promote African perspectives on tax issues and represent the views and interests of its members. ATAF is a key player in the Inclusive Framework and the UN Committee of Experts.

• An African Tax Knowledge hub

ATAF launched its African Tax Outlook (ATO) in 2015, which is now the leading reference point on continental tax data providing valuable, practical and relevant descriptive and analytical work on tax issues. The ATO assesses and compares data of an increasing number of African countries (currently 37) against indicators in four broad categories: tax bases, tax structure, revenue performance, and tax administration.