ECA's mission is to deliver ideas and actions for an empowered and transformed Africa; informed by the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063. The mission will be guided by ECA's five new strategic directions which are: Advancing ECA's position as a premier knowledge institution that builds on its unique position and privilege to bring global solutions to the continent's problems and take local solution to the continent; Developing macroeconomic and structural policy options to accelerate economic diversification and job creation; Designing and implementing innovative financing models for infrastructure, and for human, physical and social assets for a transforming Africa; Contributing solutions to regional and trans- boundary challenges, with a focus on peace security and social inclusion as an important development nexus; Advocating Africa's position at the global level and developing regional responses as a contribution to global governance issues.
The Sub-regional Office for North Africa of the ECA (ECA SRO-NA) is located in Rabat (Morocco), and serves seven member states: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia. The main objective is to contribute to achieving structural transformation and balanced development through implementation of an environment conducive to the creation of employment for women and young people in North Africa. Its core functions are: Strengthening the capacity of member states in the sub- region to design and implement national policies and strategies for sustainable employment creation; Contributing to the implementation of sub-regional development priorities in line with the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 with due consideration for youth and gender perspectives; Improving macroeconomic and fiscal policies, and to ensure sustainable growth; Providing relevant technical assistance to member states and to regional economic communities and intergovernmental organizations in building their capacities to sustain economic, social and political transformation, with a particular focus on employment, skills and balanced development, with the aim of ensuring inclusive growth, taking into consideration access to equal opportunities for women and young people.

1) Background and rationale for support

Sudan's tax collection is low, at about 5 per cent of GDP in 2020 down from 6 per cent in 2019. With multiple and complex structural weaknesses, tax revenue is estimated to fall further to 4.8 percent of GDP in 2021. Tax collection in Sudan falls behind that of comparator countries. The tax-to-GDP ratio in Sudan is at the bottom of countries with similar characteristics and per capita GDP. Sudan's tax revenue performance has been relatively stagnant over the past two decades and remains significantly be-low potential.

lncome tax accounts for less than 10 percent of tax revenue, in part because of the historical importance of oil revenue but also because of numerous tax holidays and exemptions in the investment Law and a large informal sector, estimated at more than 60 percent of GDP. Indirect taxes, specifically through customs, excises, and VAT, are the main sources of tax revenue, but have too many rates and exemptions.
Tax revenue mobilization remains a key macroeconomic and development challenge for Sudan. A sustained and consistent increase in revenue will not only lead to direct fiscal benefits but can also contribute to economic and social stability. Economic stability in terms of low rates of inflation and predictable exchange rate movement requires increased dependence on revenue from real sources and reduced dependence on government borrowing from financial institutions. Fiscal discipline is a prerequisite for the success of ongoing macroeconomic reforms in Sudan, including managed exchange rate policies. Furthermore, empirical evidence shows that tax revenue contributes to economic growth when the revenue is greater than 12.75 percent of GDP.

ECA SRO-NA is undertaking a technical assistance programme to Sudan in this regard and many technical workshops on tax audit have been organized to Cairo for Sudan Taxation Chamber (STC) officials to learn from the Egyptian experience.

Based on the first outcomes of this programme, the Sudanese Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning requested to extend ECA support to Sudan Taxation Chamber (STC) to cover 2022 to achieve the overall goal of sustained and consistent tax revenue mobilization.

2) Scope and tasks of work

Under the direct supervision of the Economic Affairs Officer and the overall supervision of the Director of the Sub-regional Office for North Africa of the ECA (ECA SRO-NA), the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Hold consultation meetings with STC officials to determine tax administrational and legal gaps in international tax treaties and tax evasion.
• Provide technical support in evaluating the current Sudanese tax evasion practices and legal framework.
• Assist STC in designing and reforming its tax evasion practices and administrational rules.
• Review and evaluate the STC tax treaty model and provide technical support to amend the model following best practices.
• Provide technical and practical support on Transfer Pricing (TP) regulations for multinational enterprises.
• Assist in analyzing the impact of adopting international tax policies on domestic tax revenues.
• Provide support and assist in coordinating technical workshops on tax evasion and double tax treaties.
• Assist in preparing technical workshops between the Sudanese officials and Egyptian officials and exchanges of expertise between them.
• Provide technical support on reviewing and evaluating the Sudanese international tax policy and advise on future reforms.
• Assist in enhancing tax officials' skills in auditing tax evaders and discovering aggressive tax planning schemes.
• Provide policy and legal support to STC to raise tax revenues by improving the Sudanese tax policy.
• Assist in reviewing available tax policy options that positively impact tax revenues in the short-and medium-term.
• Provide practical support, training, and advice on developing a mechanism to identify evaded companies and individuals.
• Assist in addressing lessons learned from other countries' good practices in tax administration.
• Review and provide the support needed for implementing new criteria and data cleansing for large and medium taxpayers.

3) Anticipated Deliverables and Implementation schedule

The following deliverables are expected:
1) On-site support/training to STC staff in different departments. The consultant will organize and/or deliver on-site technical support/training as needed;
2) Monthly progress report to summaries the on-going work and expected outcomes;
3) Final report at the end of the six months to summaries objectives, work plan, activities, achievements, areas that needs further interventions, and recommend set of actions to be taken by STC and the Government of Sudan.

The plan and deadlines for the deliverables will be discussed and decided in consultation between the consultant and ECA SRO-NA. Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree (Masters' degree) in economics, management, statistics or related fields is required. Diplomas or Certificates in taxation is an advantage
Experience: A minimum of fifteen (15) years of experience in economic or social work or research is required. Experience in Tax Policy and management is an advantage
Language: English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat. For this consultancy, Fluency in one of the working languages of the UN Secretariat is required. Fluency in Arabic language is an advantage No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.