Tuesday June 11, 2024 in Brazzaville, the Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Congo, Mr. Jean-Baptiste ONDAYE, opened the work of the 37th Annual Conference, coupled with the 40th General Assembly, of the Circle of Reflection and Exchange of Managers of Tax Administrations (CREDAF). The ceremony was enhanced by the presence of high-ranking personalities, including the Representative of Mr. Mory CAMARA, Director General of Taxes of Guinea-Conakry and President of CREDAF; the Secretary General of this institution, Mrs. Cathérine LEMESLE and the Director General of Taxes and Domains (DGID) of Congo, host country, Mr. Ludovic ITOUA.

This Conference, which brings together around 250 participants, and which is being held in Congo-Brazzaville for the first time, is under the theme: “Collection and use of data: from national issues to an international dimension”.

Indeed, explained the speaker, “In order to understand this impact and take full advantage of it, the Congo has initiated, during 2022, the process of joining the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information. information for tax purposes. At the same time, for the same year, it updated and strengthened its tax legislation on transfer pricing, in order to align it with the guiding principles of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), on transfer prices. transfer. As everyone knows, the completeness and reliability of data have always been of crucial importance in any organization. They constitute a valuable decision-making tool. Because inaccurate or unreliable data leads to erroneous conclusions, with harmful consequences. In other words, the good collection, good analysis and good use of data constitute the catalyst for the constant increase in tax revenues.

For the Minister of Economy and Finance of Congo, “this theme, which is at the heart of public action in all our States, comes at the right time, given the dynamics of tax reforms underway in the space CREDAF. By way of illustration, here, in the Republic of Congo, the Government is carrying out a major reconstruction project of the tax administration, which targets, in particular, the collection and use of data, as well as their impact on the mobilization of revenue. tax”.

For his part, Mr. Aboubacar SIDIBE, Technical Advisor and Representative of Mr. Mory CAMARA, Director General of Taxes of Guinea-Conakry and President of CREDAF, recalled that the Brazzaville Conference is being held after the January 2024 Seminar (held in Cotonou, in Benin) which, according to him, had launched the basis for a global reflection on the need to pool the collection and use of data.

“CREDAF aims to be a place for sharing and pooling good practices for our Administrations. The challenge of mobilizing internal resources, in a context of digitalization of transactions and weak global economic growth (3.1% for the next 5 years), involves controlling the tax base which, in itself, even, would be a difficult task in the absence of reliable data accessible to the Tax Office. This is why it is essential for our States to promote the exchange of information and data, in order to further qualify the tax control chain,” added Mr. SIDIBE.

Note that during the Brazzaville Conference, the 250 Speakers, divided into working groups, will debate in particular around 2 thematic Workshops, namely: Data collection and integration strategies, and Data management and exchange of information international.

CREDAF in brief

Created in 1982 in Yaoundé (Cameroon), the “Center for Meetings and Studies of Managers of Tax Administrations” became the “Circle of Reflection and Exchange of Managers of Tax Administrations”, by Decision of the General Assembly of 2018, held in Haiti. CREDAF is a non-profit, non-governmental French-speaking association, which brings together senior officials of tax administrations from 30 French-speaking countries located on 4 continents.

Its objective is to facilitate dialogue and exchanges between member countries, and to promote multilateral international cooperation based on common interest and the sharing of experiences.

Each year, CREDAF organizes nearly ten international events, regularly attended by representatives of numerous international organizations and institutions (OECD, UNDP, IMF, World Bank, WCO, OIF, etc.), academics or experts in the field. of Taxation: Conference, Directors' Seminars, Working Groups (responsible for developing, annually, a Practical Guide) and other thematic meetings, in collaboration with the host countries.

The Communication Unit of the Ministry of Economy and Finance

Photo credit: B2B Communication