A. BACKGROUND 

The World Bank (WB) and the European Union (EU) has been implementing a new hybrid Trust Fund (TF)-financed Strengthening Governance in Mongolia (SGM) project aimed to support the efforts of the Government of Mongolia (GOM) to improve fiscal discipline, public financial management (PFM), as well as transparency and accountability processes for strengthened governance in Mongolia. 

This TF, through both Recipient Executed (RE) and Bank Executed (BE) interventions, serves two main purposes. Firstly, it complements and expands the ongoing technical assistance the WB is providing through the Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability (SFFS) Project. Secondly, this TF supports the GOM in advancing the current efforts toward increasing transparency, participation, and accountability in fiscal matters as well as in strengthening its capacity to deal with non-technical drivers of the reform process that prevent state agencies from implementing policies and regulations as intended.

Sub-Component 1.3 “Taxation and revenue management” aims to improve the existing tax legal framework through reviewing the related fiscal laws and including new fiscal relations to address the inconsistencies in tax laws, introduce international best practices in the tax laws such as transfer pricing and base erosion and profit shifting (“BEPS”), and build comprehensive revenue forecasting and financial models for economic analysis of large-scale mega projects.

The Government of Mongolia (GOM) has undertaken a number of important measures of tax reforms since 2019 to revise key tax laws such as the General Tax Law (GTL), the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Law and the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Law. The purpose of this ongoing reform is to promote investments, support businesses, create jobs, simplify provisions in tax laws,and implement tax transparency standards under the Global Forum. The latest tax package laws were approved by the Parliament on 22 March 2019 and have been in force since 1 January 2020.

Mongolia joined the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) as the 111th member country in January of 2018. As a member, Mongolia is committed to implementing the necessary BEPS Actions and thereby complying with the related standards. Furthermore, Mongolia joined  the international fight against tax avoidance and evasion by becoming the 148th member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes in January 2018. 

Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes is the leading international body working on the implementation of global transparency and exchange of information standards around the world. This standard requires the transparency of banking and accounting records as well as ownership of entities and legal arrangements.

In Mongolia, the International Taxation Division, General Department of Taxation (GDT) is responsible for implementation and monitoring of exchange of information on tax matters with the foreign countries’ competent authorities. Further, Mongolia has 26 double tax treaties in force which provides legal foundation for exchange information on request. 

Since Mongolia became a member of the Global Forum and responsible for qualifying all standards on exchange of information, the tax administration will need to go through a peer review process carried out by the Global Forum members. Furthermore, Mongolia will have to present to other members that the country is capable of implementing all standards on automatic exchange of information (AEOI). The AEOI Standards require the annual exchange of information on financial accounts be held by non-resident individuals and entities in a pre-defined format. The domestic legal framework requires financial institutions to collect and report the information to the tax authority in accordance with exchange of information agreements between all interested partners (those interested in receiving information and that meet the required standards in relation to confidentiality and data safeguards). 

The Government of Mongolia aspires to implement the AEOI Standards as soon as possible, thus the GDT will be subject to Global Forum peer review in mid-August 2022.

Due to the GDT’s lack of experience with the peer review process, the Tax Administration and Cooperation Department of the GDT intends to work with a dedicated consultant in preparation for the work to be carried out in 2022. 

B. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT 

The objective of the assignment is to provide support to the General Department of Taxation to implement the AEOI standards. 

C. SCOPE OF WORK 

Within the scope of this assignment, the consultant will perform functions including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Develop the following draft rules, regulations, and guidance regarding information exchange and present drafts for review and comments to the respective officials of the GDT:
2. Rules on collecting and reporting of information by financial institutions;
3. Rules and guidance on automatic exchange of information in Mongolia;
4. Guidance on due diligence and reporting rules for financial institutions; and
5. Rules and regulations on implementation of the Common Reporting Standards;
6. Collaborate with the respective officials of the MOF and revise and finalize the above-mentioned documents based on the MOF’s comments;   
7. Prepare a handbook on how to build legal instruments for information exchanges between jurisdictions;
8. Collaborate with experts from the Global Forum and provide the necessary information as requested by the Forum to facilitate the peer review; and 
9. Undertake any other tasks related to the activities above as reasonably requested by the Client.   

D. DELIVERABLES: 

The National Consultant will be required to provide the following deliverables: 

1. Draft rules, regulations and guidance on information exchange finalized reflecting comments of the Client and translated into English:
2. Rules on collecting and reporting of information by financial institutions;
3. Rules and guidance on automatic exchange of information in Mongolia;
4. Guidance on due diligence and reporting rules for financial institutions; and
5. Rules and regulations on implementation of the Common Reporting Standard;
6. Draft handbook on how to build legal instruments to enable information exchange between jurisdictions; and
7. Monthly reports on the tasks completed together with the actual deliverables as applicable.

E. CONSULTANT’S QUALIFICATIONS/ SELECTION CRITERIA

Education: A suitable candidate should have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field: finance, economics, law, and public administration or a relevant discipline;

Experience: The candidate should have at least two years of professional experience in finance, taxation, law, and economics, to have an excellent command of written Mongolian and outstanding skills in drafting secondary laws and regulations;

Language skills: Fluent written and spoken skills in English (at least iBT 90 scores or IELTS 6.5 score)

Computer literacy: Be proficient in MS Office such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and have preferably skills for excellent web research and navigation skills; 

Others:

• Excellent analytical, organizational, communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to function effectively and collaboratively in a team environment; high integrity and accountability; and
• Be able to work overtime if required.

F. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING 

The Consultant will report directly to the Director-General of the Tax Policy Department, MOF and the Heads of the Tax Administration, International Taxation Department (TAITD) and  and the International Taxation Division (ITD) of GDT and will work on a day-to-day basis with officers, international and local consultants of the GTD and MOF on all matters related to the assignment. The Heads of the TAITD and the ITD will meet regularly with the Consultant to review progress with the work program and to resolve any outstanding issues. 

The Consultant will be required to carry out his/her tasks in line with the approved Contract Implementation Plan (CIP) which will serve as a basis for measuring progress on desired outcomes and goals for the entire consultancy service. 

All information provided to the consultant will be regarded as confidential and information will not be shared with any outside individuals or organizations. 

G. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS 

The General Department of Taxation (TAITD) will provide office space and will work with the consultant on a day-to-day basis. The consultant shall be provided with all necessary data and information to perform the tasks detailed in Section C. 

H. CONTRACT DURATION AND PAYMENT CONDITION 

The assignment is expected to commence in October 2022. The total duration of the consultancy service rendered is estimated to be 5 months. 

70120582