UNDP Jobs - 80815- Roster for Tax Audit Experts

Roster for Tax Audit Experts

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

03-Dec-2018

Application Deadline :

09-Oct-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Varies for each call-off assignment

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Varies for each call-off assignment

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with whom the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) runs a joint secretariat for the Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) project, works in more than 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. It helps countries to implement projects, develop policies, leadership skills, share experiences, develop institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.

The OECD is a global economic forum working with 36 member countries and more than 100 emerging and developing economies to make better policies for better lives. Its mission is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. The OECD provides a unique forum in which governments work together to share experiences on what drives economic, social and environmental change, seeking solutions to common problems.

Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) is a joint initiative of the OECD and UNDP designed to support developing countries to strengthen national tax administrations through building tax audit capacity and to share this knowledge with other countries. Under TIWB, tax audit experts work alongside local officials of developing country tax administrations on tax audit related issues. TIWB aims to strengthen tax administrations by transferring technical know-how and skills to developing countries’ tax auditors, and through the sharing of general audit practices and dissemination of knowledge products.

For further information on TIWB and the partnership between the OECD and UNDP, please visit the TIWB website.

Duties and Responsibilities

To support implementation of TIWB, an established Roster of Tax Audit Experts is being expanded.

UNDP is looking for energetic, enthusiastic and experienced tax (audit) experts to take on exceptional opportunities, as TIWB Tax Audit Experts in different parts of the world. The main responsibility will be to provide technical assistance to tax administrations of developing countries, on real time audits and on-the-job training programmes to build audit skills.

Experts will need to demonstrate extensive professional experience in all three areas listed below:

Conducting tax audits (e.g. transfer pricing; tax crime investigations; anti-avoidance rules; high net worth individuals etc.);
Knowledge of industry-specific or sector-specific tax issues (e.g. extractive industries, tele-communications, financial sector, trading, manufacturing etc.);
Experience in developing general audit approaches (such as risk assessment and case selection; audit investigatory techniques; audit planning; dispute resolution procedures etc.);

Experience in the following areas will be considered an additional advantage:

Knowledge of computer forensics in tax audits
Knowledge of working with commercial databases for comparability analysis.

The assignments require close collaboration with the TIWB Secretariat, UNDP and the host administration in the developing country. This role will require travel and missions of varying durations composed of four to six missions (one to two weeks at a time) per year, depending on the programme. A typical TIWB Programme is on average 12 to 18 months long.

The duties and responsibilities detailed below are a representative, but not exhaustive, list of potential activities assignment. Specific Terms of Reference (ToR) will dictate the scope of work and the selection of experts from the vetted Roster for each of the assignments. Key areas of support and activities will include:

Capacity development and training for tax administrations:

Deliver practical TIWB audit assistance to host administrations of requesting countries, supporting real-time audit cases
Assist the TIWB Secretariat in undertaking skills gap/transfer analysis before and after delivery of TIWB programmes
Provide training on different topics at capacity-building workshops organized by the TIWB Secretariat and/or international partners
Prepare mission reports after every mission
Prepare final report at the end of the programme including an evaluation of the programme

Generation of knowledge and sharing of best practices:

Support the development of learning materials and internal guidelines or administrative practices, including case studies and documentation of lessons learned
Attend, if requested, at least one international and regional tax organization networking event to build capacity through knowledge sharing as part of TIWB programmes
Attend, if requested, international meetings of OECD and/or UNDP where TIWB is presented to stakeholders

The hired consultants will report to UNDP and seek approval/acceptance of outputs as specified in the contract.

Competencies

Experts will need to demonstrate the following:

Specific technical expertise in the areas listed above;
Highly organized with strong analytical and research skills;
Excellent presentation and communications skills;
Ability to prepare succinct reports;
Ability to work in a team
Diplomatic sensitivity and effective negotiating skills;
Focus on impact and results for the client and positive response to critical feedback;
Flexible thinking;
Ability to work in an independent manner.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree in taxation, public finance, law or other field related to taxation is required.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years of substantial, proven experience in tax audit/investigations, obtained from recent employment in a tax administration or government agency. In cases where the candidate has a Masters’ degree, a minimum of five years professional experience is required.
At least five years in depth knowledge of international tax/transfer pricing audits, and implementation of related policies and legislation.
Proven experience in providing assistance, guidance and/or training to tax officials, including co-ordination and management of technical support;
Experience participating in technical assistance programmes;
Substantial experience in communication and negotiating with large enterprises and/or their tax advisors;
Experience in drafting legislation and administrative guidance
Fluency in the use of standard software applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint;

Language:

Fluency in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish or Arabic;
Some assignments may be open only to experts having the requisite language capacity whereby the particular language is required for the programme.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

Indicative: Financial proposals must be all-inclusive and must be expressed on the basis of “a daily fee” in USD. The term ‘all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and she/he expects her/his employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing her/him to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP; (Note: Each contractor will however be called upon to submit a fresh financial proposal for each advertised assignment.)
Payment will be made upon monthly submission of a certificate of payment request, following a detailed mission report indicating outputs achieved and days worked to be verified and cleared for payment by the supervisor;
Arrangements and fees for travel related costs will be determined at time of call off assignments.
When opportunity arises, rostered candidates will be contacted for availability and requested to submit a financial proposal for call off assignments fitting their profile. The all-inclusive daily fee provided by each candidate during the application stage will be the maximum fee to be quoted for each call-off assignment under this Roster. Candidates may also be requested to provide costs for travel costs to duty station and/or mission related travels, as applicable.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of at least three (3) professional references;
Brief description of why the individual considers her/himself suitable for the roster with detailed note of professional experience in supporting audits in home country with focus on international tax audits and highlighting any industry-specific experience. Developing country experience would be an added advantage.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials. Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows uploading of one document maximum.

Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.

For individuals currently serving in a tax administration, authorisation from your tax administration may be required to apply for the Roster.

Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

All applicants will be initially screened against the minimum requirements as specified above. These long-listed candidates will then be further evaluated against the following criteria.

Desk review of technical criteria as evident in the submitted application:

Criteria 1: Demonstrated professional expertise in the three areas listed above: Maximum Points: 15;
Criteria 2: Experience in conducting training and providing capacity development support related to tax auditing: Maximum Points: 10;
Criteria 3: Experience in preparing succinct reports on tax audit issues: Maximum Points: 10;

The maximum points that can be achieved in the desk review are 35 points.

Criteria 4: Interview: Maximum Points: 35

Only those applicants obtaining a minimum of 25 points in the desk review will be considered for an interview. A total of 35 additional points (with same scoring breakdown as desk review) can then be obtained in the interview bringing the total points for the technical evaluation to a maximum of 70;

Only those candidates who obtain a total technical score of 49 points and above will be considered for the roster.

Contract Award:

Several successful individuals will be selected and placed on the Tax Audit Expert Roster for a period of up to three years. It is to be noted that inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee a contract during the period of three years.

Rostered experts will be contacted when specific assignments arise and will be asked to indicate availability and interest against a specific Terms of Reference which outlines the outputs of the assignment.

Upon secondary selection, an Individual Contract (IC) or Reimbursable Loan Agreements (RLA) will then be awarded for these specific ToRs, including the time frame.

Note:

For Individuals who will be represented on behalf of an organization/company/institution, a RLA will be signed between UNDP and the organization/company/institution. RLA: A legal instrument between UNDP and an organization/company/institution, according to which, the latter makes available the services of an individual delivering time bound and quantifiable outputs that are directly linked to payments.

Payments will be made as specified in the actual contract upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering against the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template

Annex 3 - IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 - RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.