On 16 April, African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and OECD joined forces to organize a webinar with over 70 participants from 27 ATAF member countries, to discuss tax policy and tax administration measures governments are considering or could consider as part of their immediate response to COVID-19.
ATAF and OECD have published a range of measures that could help manage the impact of COVID-19 on tax. This webinar was served as a follow-up to these measures and offered an opportunity for Revenue Authorities to share their experiences, and gather insights from their peers on on-going and envisaged policy options. The workshop brought together representatives of ATAF member countries, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), and the OECD.
In addition to the measures so far developed by ATAF and the OECD, the ODI and the IFS have also published a paper on how tax officials in lower-income countries can respond to the Coronavirus pandemic. In his closing remarks, the Executive Secretary of ATAF, Mr. Logan Wort, emphasized the need to multiply such engagements in future in order to develop a comprehensive and coordinated response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 to countries' Tax administrations and economies.