We are happy to share with you the news about the second IBFD capacity building training for the Benin tax administration (DGI). This training is a continuation of the 2-week training provided in June 2023 in Amsterdam (see our previous article here). Both these trainings are a direct follow-up of the BEPS Assessment Tool (BAT) project carried out in Benin in 2022 (see our previous article on the BAT here). This training was given by IBFD almost fully in French, demonstrating our capacity to serve French-speaking countries.
Delegations from Benin and GIZ Join Training in Amsterdam
In a quest to modernise its tax administration, DGI is working on strengthening its managers and facilitators skills. It has therefore initiated the creation of a pool of experts in international taxation in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Finance. A training session, the second of its kind since the pool was set up, was organized in IBFD’s Amsterdam office from 4 – 13 June 2024. 13 participants in total attended, of which 11 from DGI and two representatives of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), who are funding the project.
The training covered several topics related to tax administration and resolving tax disputes enabling the tax authorities to improve their understanding of recent international tax practices and developments. This will enable DGI executives to be better equipped to meet the complex challenges of international taxation as well as ensure tax policy integrity and compliance.
The training was a dynamic mix of lectures and interactive sharing of experiences. Participants engaged in various sessions which included case studies and practical exercises. The instructors provided expert insights on complex topics helping the delegates contextualize the information within the Benin framework and ensure they could apply this knowledge in their day-to-day jobs. The instructors who delivered the training, in chronological order, were: Arie van Eijsden, Victor van Kommer, Len Middelbeek, Marie Lamensch, Vanessa Arruda Ferreira, Mamadou Bah, Thierry Obrist, Aziz Son and Anapaula Trindade Marinho.
Last but not least, as there was an overlap between the Tanzanian and Benin delegations’ trainings, who were both in IBFD’s Amsterdam office during the same week, a session was organised between them and intermediated by IBFD. The objective of this session was to share best practices and challenges which we hope will be the first step towards cooperation between their respective governments.
We would like to thank Content Manager Carlos Gutiérrez P. for guiding the development of the course content as well as Fabiola Annacondia and Bart Kosters for supporting several external experts in the development of their sessions. We would also like to thank the project manager and course coordinators who organized and supported the training also fully in French: Sarah Ngoy, Hermann Roschlau and Robert McLaren.