Tax Manager

Job Summary

Reporting To: Regional Senior Tax Manager GMEA

Working with: Tax Operations (“Tax Ops”)

Organization(s):Tetra Pak International Business Operations (“TPI BO”)

Area of responsibility: South Africa, East Africa & West Africa     
      
Purpose of Role: Lead the Tax Advisory & Tax Compliance function for South Africa and support markets in East & West Africa, to ensure it meets its tax compliance obligations & objectives. This includes supporting the tax management for all relevant legal entities, overall management of the tax compliance scope and E2E tax compliance processes, management and prioritization of projects and continuous improvement initiatives, management & monitoring of tax compliance costs, strong collaboration, and communication with TLGT and ensuring best practice initiatives are implemented and upheld. In addition, support TaxOps with business expertise on the tax compliance process, solve everyday tax compliance problems quickly and effectively and provide regular tax compliance updates and training when required.

Responsible for small to mid-size tax cases within area of responsibility [within either Corporate Tax / Indirect Tax / Custom Duty], applying specialised knowledge and supporting Senior Tax Managers/ Tax Directors in more complex cases.

What you will do

• Ensure that group tax policies and procedures are respected within area of responsibility (South, East & West Africa), mainly Tetra Laval Group Tax policies and procedures.
• Ensure that the South African market meets its tax obligations & objectives (Income Tax, Provisional tax payment, monthly VAT returns, WHT returns and custom duties) complying with all relevant laws and regulations, e.g., all tax returns & payments are filed correctly and on time.
• Preparation of the Income Tax Return of South Africa, review of Income Tax Return of East & West Africa markets.
• Reviewing and approving VAT returns and other local tax returns of markets within area of responsibility. Preparation is performed by accounting team.
• Ensure VAT refunds are done properly and timely with the support of accounting team.
• Review of all tax compliance routines (accurately and on time) related to Corporate Income Tax, withholding taxes and all other applicable indirect taxes
• Acts as a point of contact to provide relevant technical tax information to key contacts to support business decisions and problems, in addition to managing relationship with external advisors
• Keeps up to date with relevant Tax legislations and provides appropriate information to the concerned stakeholders.
• Supports stakeholders on domestic and international planning, research and compliance. Also work closely with the Finance Director of South Africa, in addition to support the Finance Directors of East & West Africa. 
• Participates in projects / initiatives and supports tax training and information sessions.
• Works with internal and external Tax specialists in relation to tax litigations together with the team and support the implement of the tax strategy.
• Concentrates on short term individual and team goals.
• Supports business on tax audit and establishes risk management.
• Support TLGT with strategic tax planning to minimize risks and optimize tax costs
• Support TLGT with transfer pricing requirements, including review of transfer pricing documentation and supporting transfer pricing calculations, adjustments & true ups.
• Identify and drive continuous improvement and cost saving initiatives with respect to the tax compliance process and the end-to-end process in line with the TaxOps mission. Seek out improvement areas and ensure that the processes work as they should in conjunction with global tax compliance requirements
• Assist regional senior tax manager with day-to-day tasks required to run TaxOps effectively, i.e., brainstorm to find new ways of managing risk by improving tax compliance processes and reducing tax expenses (including research on external best practices), participation in key meetings, support with specific TaxOps projects/workshops, etc.

We believe you have

The successful candidate has a minimum of 6-10 years’ experience in finance/tax with strong tax compliance experience gained preferably in tax advisory and/or as an in-house tax professional. You must be passionate about taxes and have a genuine interest in this area of tax expertise. Specific key requirements are as follows.

•    Minimum 6-10 years’ experience in taxes gained from a previous role, including tax compliance experience, with 1-2 years’ experience at manager level (“Big 4” experience also an advantage)
•    University Degree in Economics, Accounting, Finance or Law. Government University Degree on Tax / Certified Tax Accountant 
•    Strong experience in transfer pricing and international taxation
•    Experience in East (Kenya) & West African (Nigeria) markets 
•    Strong communication skills with internal and external stakeholders
•    Strong knowledge of South African tax regulations is essential
•    Fluency in English is essential
•    Strong ERP knowledge is essential with SAP/R3 knowledge an advantage
•    Continuous process improvement and cost saving skills & mentality essential
•    Ability to troubleshoot with respect to tax compliance issues
•    Ability to document processes and functional specifications
•    Ability to working effectively in a global team-based environment
•    Ability to handle many tasks simultaneously and set key priorities
•    Open minded to new tax technology and willing to take on new challenges