The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has appointed SA Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Pravin Gordhan as the new chairman of its Forum on Tax Administration (FTA).
The OECD, which promotes free market and democracy, says Gordhan took up the part-time post with effect from 1 May.
Gordhan has headed SARS since November 1999 and has overseen its transformation from a lumbering bureaucracy into a crack financial services agency. It has since consistently beat its own tax collection forecasts through the implementation of IT and e-governance under former CIO Ken Jarvis and current CIO Barry Hore.
"It is a tremendous honour for SA and SARS to be elected to chair the forum," says Gordhan of his selection by the collective heads of OECD tax administrations.
"What makes this especially significant is that SA is an observer to the OECD`s Committee on Fiscal Affairs and not a full member," Gordhan adds. The OECD currently has 30 full members, including most European states.
The FTA brings together tax commissioners from those 30 states and several other countries to share information, experiences and to develop best practices for tax administration in the areas of taxpayer service and compliance.
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