Every year African countries lose at least $50 billion in taxes — more than the amount of foreign development aid according to the High-Level Panel (HLP) Report on IFFs.
African countries are being cheated out of billions in tax revenues — mainly by large foreign companies in the energy and resource sectors, but also increasingly by small and medium-sized enterprises.
NGOs continue to raise the alarm :commercial illicit financial outflows (IFFs) do not only facilitate illicit resource outflows but also end up favouring the wealthy while aggravating inequality and poverty in African countries.
Weak regulations and legislative frameworks often encourage the corruption that facilitates illicit financial flows. Today, laws and policies in African countries are not up-to-date and do not respond to the public’s best interests.
In fact, many laws and policies carry multiple limitations such as an in the tax exemptions regimes or treaties which may neutralise the taxpayer’s burden in two different jurisdictions contributing to the loss of a country’s tax base and facilitating tax avoidance.
In the light of this reality The Parliamentarians For Tax Justice Conference organized by Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) in collaboration with the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and the Tunisian Observatory for Economy (TOE) took place in Tunis, with +50 members of national, regional and pan African assemblies working together to combat tax evasion in Africa by plugging commercial laws loopholes.
The conference provided The Skills Development Workshop for policymakers across African governments which discussed the following areas: Domestication of the Africa Mining ,Vision principles, Financing investment in agriculture, health and education through taxation, and, finally the Implementation of HLP recommendations at national and regional levels.
