Tender Advertisement #1206090

REQUEST FOR TENDER

TECHNICAL CONSULTANCY TO PROVIDE TECHINCAL SUPPORT TO FORUM MEMBER COUNTRIES IN IMPROVING TAX GOVERNANCE AND COMPLIANCE WITH EUROPEAN UNION (EU) TAX JURISIDICTION STANDARDS.

BACKGROUND

Increasingly relevant aspects of public financial management (PFM) in the Pacific is tax transparency, tax governance and anti-money laundering, mainly form the perspective of PFM transparency and accountability. A number of Pacific Island countries (PICs) are struggling with finding ways to mitigate these issues, and suffering concrete repercussions, such as poor rankings on various international lists and indices, one of which is the EU List of Non Cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes.

A potential problem is the lack of capacity of PICs to be aware of changing rules and requirements of the EU or the lack of access to regular and updated information on the status of PICs tax regimes in relation to the requirements of both the blacklist and the grey-list. In addition, immense pressure is placed on PICs that continue to remain in the blacklist considering the severity of repercussions that this would have on these countries particularly in terms of development assistance and investment flows from EU member states. As PICs cope and recover from the impact of the global pandemic, COVID-19, additional pressures from the international community on issues such as improving tax governance and anti-money laundering procedures could potentially congest PICs considering the capacity constraints that impact them as PICs attempt to be removed from either lists from the EU and removed from being classified as a jurisdiction with strategic deficiencies in so far as tax governance is concerned.

This therefore forms a basis for possible intervention by PIFS in providing intervention and/or assistance in improving tax governance of PICs that require assistance. It also allows the opportunity for PICS to continuously update PICs on information related to changing rules and requirements of both the blacklist and grey-list. There is an urgent need for technical assistance for a Tax Governance Advisor to assist PICs in general tax governance issues particularly in compliance with EU Tax Jurisdiction Standards. The Tax Governance Advisor will work under the general direction and supervision of the Senior Economic Adviser, Programmes and Initiatives Division, PIFS.

Purpose

The purpose of the tender is to secure interests internationally as well as regionally for Tax Expertise in the area of Tax Governance particularly with experience on EU Tax Jurisdiction Standards and Listing.

Scope of Work

The Tax Governance Advisor will carry out the responsibilities and tasks as set out under the Terms of Reference (TOR) document which can be downloaded from www.tenders.net/forumsec.

HOW TO APPLY

Submissions should be entitled:

REQUEST FOR TENDER

CONSULTANCY TO PROVIDE TECHINCAL SUPPORT TO FORUM MEMBER COUNTRIES ON IMPROVING TAX GOVERNANCE AND COMPLIANCE WITH EUROPEAN UNION (EU) TAX JURISIDICTION STANDARDS

Method of Submissions:

Submissions must be forwarded in PDF format following the instructions at www.tenders.net/forumsec

Note: Tenders must be submitted with clear labelling of the technical offer and the financial offer. The Technical Offer documents must be saved and submitted clearly labelled “A. Technical Offer”. Financial Offer documents must be saved and submitted clearly labelled “B. Financial Offer”.

The electronically submitted documents should be converted to the PDF format.

Deadline for Submissions:

Submissions need to reach the Secretariat by 4pm (Fiji Time) Friday 11 June 2021.

Late or incomplete tenders will not be considered.

Questions and Answers

All queries or request for information must be submitted via the Question and Answer Forum at www.tenders.net/forumsec . Tenderers may submit questions in writing to the mentioned Question and Answer Forum before the stated “deadline for requesting clarifications” Friday 4 June 2021. The Secretariat has no obligation to provide clarification after this date.

Note: The Secretariat will not be responsible for non-receipt/non-delivery of the Bid documents due to any reason whatsoever.

Any complaints regarding the Secretariat’s tender must be directed to the following email: Tender.Complaints@forumsec.org. This email address will forward your complaint to a person that is independent and removed from the tender process. Complaints must be well founded and should not be used as a mechanism for notifying displeasure with the outcome of a tender award. Further information on making a complaint can be found on the Policies & Information page at http://tenders.forumsec.org.

In the event that further information is required by the Secretariat in relation to the tender for consultancy, the Secretariat reserves the right to seek the required information without the need for calling for resubmission of proposals.