Tax Coordinator – USAID Uganda

About Us

International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. (IBTCI), a U.S. based international development consulting company established in 1987, has worked in over 100 countries and implemented over 300 projects. IBTCI serves government agencies, private sector companies, and several donor agencies. IBTCI specializes in monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) and institutional support across many areas and sectors including, but not limited to, conflict and crisis, democracy and governance, agriculture, economic growth, food security, education, environment, and global health.

Job Title: Tax Coordinator

Department/Location: USAID/Uganda Office of Financial Management

Reports To: ISPI Project Manager

Type: Consultancy

Classification: Consultant / 250 working days

Clearance Required: Facilities Access – applied for once hired

Overview:

On behalf of USAID/Uganda’s Office of Financial Management, IBTCI is seeking the services of a Short Term Technical Advisor to serve as a Tax Coordinator.

For more than 50 years, USAID has worked closely with the Ugandan government, the private sector, and civil society to: develop capacity and commitment to prevent, detect, and respond to health security threats, and accelerate reductions in preventable death; facilitate agriculture, climate and conflict sensitive, private sector-led growth, and human capital that lifts the most vulnerable in target regions out of extreme poverty; and increase transparency, accountability, and effectiveness in local and national government systems.

USAID/Uganda has approximately $375 million Operating Year Budget and $8.5 million Operating Expense (OE) year budget. The Mission works with over 60 implementing partners and operates under five main technical offices; Humanitarian Assistance & Transitions Office, Education Youth And Child Development, Economic Growth, Office of Health and HIV/AIDS and Democracy, Human Rights & Governance; the Program Office and three support offices; the Executive Office, Office of Financial Management, and the Office of Acquisition and Assistance.

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) requires a human resource support person who will be responsible for coordinating the tax refund process for USAID in Uganda. The Tax Coordinator will work in close collaboration with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to claim reimbursement of VAT charged directly to USAID and its Implementing Partners (IPs). The role involves receiving quarterly VAT reports Research and Institutional Support Services Activity and invoices from IPs, verifying tax invoices for both USAID and URA, compiling diplomatic VAT returns with URA through its web portal, tracking and reconciling VAT refunds from URA, and managing the database of all VAT records.

The incumbent will play a critical role in addressing the complex and time-consuming tax claim procedures with URA. This will allow for more time to focus on and expedite the recruitment process for the approved tax coordinator position.

NOTE: The contractor is expected to work remotely and use their own premises to accomplish the work. Costs are included in the budget to support adequate space for work and storage.

Responsibilities

Essential Duties/Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Receipt of reports: Receives quarterly VAT reports and supporting documents from IPs and USAID’s financial clerk by the 25th of the month after the quarter. Updates the quarterly IP VAT reporting tracker and follows up with non-compliant IPs to ensure submission within a given timeline and submits it to the activity manager within two months of receiving files from the IPs.
• Preparation and submission of tax claims: Reviews and validates IP VAT reports and USAID direct VAT costs in line with VAT refund guidelines. Identifies and tracks invalid or improper tax documents and follows up with the IP and USAID to rectify them. Prepares quarterly tax claims within two months of receiving VAT reports from the IPs and USAID and uploads the data onto the URA web portal. Updates the invalid/improper tax tracker continually based on rectified documents re-submitted. Submits the following final reports two months after receiving files from the IPs: certified form DT-2032 and URA e-acknowledgment receipts, invalid/improper tax invoices, and VAT submission reports categorized by award/vendor name and number.
• Submission of VAT documents: After submitting a diplomatic tax claim, submits the original tax documents to URA for verification and stamping. Returns the stamped original documents to the IPs within two months of receiving them from the IP and USAID.
• Reconciliation of VAT Refunds: Upon notification from USAID of tax refunds from URA, reconciles the amount received to the fiscal data from which the tax payment was disbursed. Maintains the reconciliation spreadsheet showing a reason for rejection and action required for each tax invoice and shares it with the activity manager within one month from the date of notification.
• Resubmission of Tax Claims: Follows up with the IPs and USAID to rectify tax documents for rejected amounts and maintains a tracker to monitor the verification and resubmission of tax documents for rejected amounts. Prepares and submits a tax claim to URA with the necessary documents for verification and refund. Then, returns the original documents to the IP and USAID and submits the following reports to USAID within two months of reconciling the refunds: certified form DT-2032 and URA e-acknowledgment receipts, updated rejected invoices tracker, and VAT resubmission report categorized by award name and number.
• Support, handover, onboarding and training of systems and protocols.

NOTE: The consultant will not perform other inherently governmental functions or duties (e.g. will not serve as AOR/COR or supervise staff), but rather will advise, mentor, and facilitate as appropriate on the performance of inherently governmental functions on the part of the Office or Mission.

KEY DELIVERABLES:

1. Submission of the April – June 2024 quarterly tax refund claim to URA and the following to USAID:

• Quarterly VAT Reporting Tracker showing IP VAT reports received
• Certified form DT-2032 and URA e-acknowledgment receipt
• Stamped original VAT documents to IPs and USAID
• VAT claim report
• Invalid tax invoices report

Due Date: September 30, 2024

2. Submission of the July – September 2024 quarterly tax refund claim to URA and the following to USAID:

• Quarterly VAT Reporting Tracker showing IP VAT reports received
• Certified form DT-2032 and URA e-acknowledgment receipt
• Stamped original VAT documents to IPs and USAID
• VAT claim report
• Invalid tax invoices report

Due Date: December 31, 2024

3. Submission of the October – December 2024 quarterly tax refund claim to URA and the following to USAID:

• Quarterly VAT Reporting Tracker showing IP VAT reports received
• Certified form DT-2032 and URA e-acknowledgment receipt
• Stamped original VAT documents to IPs and USAID
• VAT claim report
• Invalid tax invoices report

Due Date: March 31, 2025

4. Submission of the January- March 2025 quarterly tax refund claim to URA and the following to USAID:

• Quarterly VAT Reporting Tracker showing IP VAT reports received
• Certified form DT-2032 and URA e-acknowledgment receipt
• Stamped original VAT documents to IPs and USAID
• VAT claim report
• Invalid tax invoices report

Due Date: May 31, 2025

5. Submission of a VAT refund reconcilliation report to USAID

Due Date: Within one month of VAT refund confirmation from USAID.

6. Resubmission of tax refund claim to URA for rejected amounts and the following to USAID:

• Updated Rejects Tracker
• Certified VAT claim form (DT-2032) and URA e-acknowledgement receipt.
• VAT reclaim Report.

Due Date: Within two months after reconciling the VAT refunds.

Qualifications

Minimum Requirements:

• Over three years of proven experience in tax accounting٫ tax compliance and all kinds of tax return operations is required.
• Extensive knowledge of the Government of Uganda tax legislation and taxation software.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; ability to work in a dynamic team environment with a diverse set of partners and stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Outstanding organizational and planning abilities; ability to meet deadlines.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• The contractor is expected to maintain a safe space for keeping USAID documents secure.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in accounting, taxation, finance, business or related field is required.

Supervisory Responsibilities: This position does not have supervisory responsibilities.

Travel: International travel may be required and may include travel to fragile or conflict prone zones.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

About the Organization:

IBTCI has been in business since 1987. We specialize in Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL), Institutional Support (IS), Financial & Risk Management (FRM), Supply Chain Management & Procurement (SCMP); Social & Behavior Change (SBC) and Capacity Building. We provide these services across many sectors including, but not limited to, agriculture, resilience & food security, conflict & crisis, democracy & governance, economic growth & trade, education & human capacity development, energy & infrastructure, environment & climate change, global health & WASH and humanitarian and disaster assistance. At IBTCI, our colleagues are encouraged to collaborate and be part of the solution while getting the tools and guidance needed to grow and support our clients’ missions.

IBTCI is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all persons without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identification, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran, or any other classification protected by applicable anti-discrimination laws. We prohibit and do not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment. VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

If you are an applicant with a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability, or unable to use the online application system and need an alternative method for applying, you may contact the Talent Acquisition team at [email protected] (Do not send your resume to this account, for consideration please apply in our career page, https://careers.ibtci.com/jobs).