Revenue authorities commit on improving media engagement

From HENRY LYIMO in Johannesburg

MEDIA personnel and communication officers of revenue authorities in Africa have committed themselves to forge close working relations in promoting domestic revenue collection drive to boost social and economic development.

In their last day of the first media engagement and training event in Johannesburg, South Africa, yesterday, they agreed to improve on the existing partnerships and build mutually benefitting relations to join efforts towards enhancing domestic resource mobilization.
The three-day event organised by African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) came at the time African countries are under intense pressure to boost their domestic revenue collection to meet their social and economic demands.
Africa’s average tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 16 per cent, about half of that of developed countries. The communications officers pledged to convey to senior executives the message on the commitment to improve on their media engagement through breaking down of the barriers to the media.
The committed to prepare training programmes for the media reporters on regular basis to build their capacity in reporting about taxation issues. Participants in the event expressed the need to take governments on board through enhancing their accountability to tax payers in order to encourage compliance.
It was also agreed that it was important for the revenue authorities to embrace the social media as a platform to disseminate information to the public. To forge closer and mutually beneficial relationship, the media need to understand taxation and complexity and tax authorities need also to be educated in dealing better with the media.
ATAF Head of International Tax & Technical Assistance, Mary Baine said ATAF would also reach out to tax commissioners and senior executives of revenue authorities about the commitments on better engagement with the media made at the three-day media engagement and training event.
“I hope we can come together to build the nexus between tax authorities and the media. We must retain our independence (tax and media) but work together,” she said at her closing remarks. “ATAF is committed to these types of engagement. We remain available to both tax authorities and the media.