The
Gambia Revenue Authority is playing host to a three-day workshop on tax
treaties organised by OECD and ATAF. The forum, which seeks to enhance the
capacity of expertise on tax treaties is currently being held at a hotel in
Bijilo.
The African Tax Administration forum is the
only African organisation devoted to improving the capacities of tax
administrations on the continent.
Speaking
at the forum, Lamin Camara, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Affairs, underscored the role The Gambia Revenue Authority play in the
country’s economy.
Double
taxation avoidance treaties, he went on, has become an important instrument in
encouraging trade and investment across international borders.
“However,
it has also created a whole new avenue for unscrupulous businesses who engage
in aggressive tax planning. It is therefore, important for both tax
policymakers and tax administrators to continue to develop capacity in tax
agreements in order to close the loopholes in such agreements,” he said.
This,
PS Camara added, would further encourage the use of such tax treaties by honest
and genuine investors and businesses, thereby in the process facilitate
international trade and investment.
PS
Camara noted that the training would help member countries to improve their
respective domestic resource mobilization efforts without negatively impacting
on trade and investment.
Essa
Jallow, deputy commissioner and head of Domestic Tax at The Gambia Revenue
Authority, described the forum as very timely in guiding member countries to
work in their efforts to expand treaty networks, exchange of information to
strengthen their tax administration capacities and secure revenue basis.
Jallow
acknowledged that the forum would make a direct contribution to the fight
against harmful treaty shopping and aggressive tax planning around the treaties
among member countries.
“Tax
treaties if properly negotiated should deal with problems of double taxation,
make our environments more attractive for inward investments and improve the
business climate for all and sundry to benefit,” he added.