- 18 Marks
Question
The VAT Act, 2013 (Act 870) accepts that tax consultants may act in a representative capacity for and on behalf of the substantive taxpayer. This provision in the law encourages and accepts the professional development of private tax practitioners but lays down the specific parameters which would qualify such professionals to act as taxpayers’ representatives.
As the Tax Partner for ABC Practice Firm, a new entrant of the firm has approached you with a request to educate him on the types of persons who can act in a representative capacity for an on behalf of the taxpayer.
Required a) With reference to the provisions of Act 870, specify the categories of persons who qualify to be declared by the Commissioner-General as a representative person of: i. a Company; ii. a Local Authority? b) What are the responsibilities of the tax representative of a taxable person?
Answer
a) By the provisions of Act 870, a tax representative may be: i. Company:
- The designated officer of the company, other than a company in Liquidation,
- The Liquidator, in the case of a company in liquidation:
- A person responsible for accounting for the receipt and payment of money or funds on behalf of the company, in any, other case:
- A person controlling the affairs in the country of a non-resident company, including the manager in the country of a taxable activity of a non-resident company. ii. Local Authority: The person responsible for accounting for the receipt and payment of money under the provisions of any law, or for the receipt and payment of public funds or funds voted by Parliament for the Local Authority. (10 marks) b) The responsibilities of the tax representative of a taxable person are:
- Responsible for performing the duties, including the payment of tax imposed by the Act on the taxable person.
- Personally liable for payment of the tax payable in the representative capacity if, while the amount remains unpaid, the representative:
Alienates, charges, or disposes of any money received or accrued in respect of which the tax is payable, or: Disposes of or parts with any fund or money that belongs to the taxable person which is in the possession of the representative or which comes to the representative after the tax becomes payable if the tax could legally have been paid out of the fund or money.
- Topic: Tax Administration and Management
- Series: FEBRUARY 2018
- Uploader: Salamat Hamid
