OECD Tax Control Framework Implementation Training Course

Course overview

Tax functions are increasingly expected to demonstrate that tax risks are identified, owned, controlled, tested and reported before they become audit findings, uncertain tax positions or governance failures. An OECD-aligned Tax Control Framework (TCF) gives organisations a structured way to evidence tax governance across corporate income tax, VAT/GST, withholding taxes, transfer pricing and payroll taxes. This course addresses the practical gap between high-level tax policy statements and the documented control activities, accountabilities and assurance evidence that tax authorities, boards and audit committees expect to see.

Participants learn how to design or strengthen an OECD Tax Control Framework using a risk-and-control approach. They map the tax operating model, define tax risk appetite, build a tax risk register, document key controls, assign control owners, test control design and operating effectiveness, and report deficiencies. The programme applies OECD cooperative compliance principles alongside COSO and ISO 37301 concepts, with focused work on control matrices, process narratives, RACI charts, key risk indicators and remediation plans.

Instructor-led briefings are combined with worked tax governance cases, peer review and practical workshops. Participants build a TCF implementation pack for a realistic multinational organisation, including a tax risk assessment, control matrix, testing plan, governance calendar and management reporting dashboard. They leave with templates that can be adapted to their own tax processes and a prioritised 90-day implementation plan suitable for discussion with tax leadership, finance control, internal audit and external advisers.

The course is designed for experienced tax, finance, risk and assurance professionals who need to implement, assess or oversee a defensible tax control environment rather than merely understand tax compliance rules.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Map tax processes, systems, data flows and decision points into an OECD-aligned Tax Control Framework scope
• Construct a tax risk register using inherent risk, residual risk, likelihood, impact and control-effectiveness ratings
• Draft a tax control matrix linking tax risks to preventive, detective and corrective controls
• Define tax governance roles through a RACI matrix, escalation protocol and tax risk appetite statement
• Test control design and operating effectiveness using evidence requests, sampling plans and test scripts
• Assess data, technology and manual-control risks affecting direct tax, VAT/GST and withholding tax compliance
• Produce key risk indicators and board-level tax governance reporting for control deficiencies and remediation
• Create a phased Tax Control Framework implementation roadmap with owners, milestones and assurance activities

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Heads of Tax and Tax Directors — who need to evidence tax governance and oversee enterprise-wide tax risk
• Tax Managers — who must translate tax policy into documented controls, ownership and testing routines
• Group Tax Reporting Managers — who manage tax provision, uncertain tax positions and close-process controls
• Indirect Tax and VAT Managers — who need repeatable controls over transactional tax data and filings
• Internal Audit Managers — who assess tax control design, operating effectiveness and remediation evidence
• Finance Control, Risk and Compliance Managers — who support cross-functional governance over tax processes

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in corporate tax, VAT/GST, tax reporting, finance controls, internal audit or compliance. The course assumes familiarity with core tax processes such as tax return preparation, tax provision, transaction review, reconciliations and issue escalation. Participants should also be comfortable reading process maps, spreadsheets and management reports. Prior exposure to risk-and-control concepts, such as control owners, evidence and testing, is useful but not essential. No legal qualification, OECD cooperative compliance agreement, audit certification, specialist GRC platform or programming knowledge is required.

Training methodology

The programme uses instructor-led technical sessions to explain OECD TCF expectations, followed by guided construction of framework components for a multinational case organisation. Participants analyse process narratives, identify tax-risk scenarios, build risk-and-control matrices in Excel, and challenge one another’s control evidence and testing approaches. Small-group workshops cover governance design, deficiency rating and management reporting. Each day adds to a single implementation pack. On day five, participants present their proposed framework, receive instructor feedback and convert the case work into a 90-day application plan for their own organisation.

Course outline

Day 1: OECD Tax Control Framework foundations

• OECD cooperative compliance principles and the purpose of a Tax Control Framework
• Tax strategy, tax risk appetite and board-level tax governance expectations
• TCF scope across direct tax, VAT/GST, withholding tax and transfer pricing
• The relationship between tax policy, tax processes and control documentation
• COSO Internal Control Integrated Framework applied to tax activities
• ISO 37301 compliance-management concepts for tax governance
• Tax operating-model mapping across tax, finance, legal, IT and shared services

Workshop: Participants map the tax operating model of a multinational case company and define the initial scope, stakeholders and governance objectives for its TCF.

Day 2: Tax risk assessment and control design

• Tax risk taxonomy for compliance, reporting, transaction and strategic tax risks
• Inherent-risk and residual-risk scoring methodologies
• Process walkthroughs and identification of tax risk points
• Tax risk register fields, rating criteria and risk-owner assignments
• Preventive, detective and corrective tax controls
• Control matrix design linking risks, objectives, activities and evidence
• Control frequency, precision, automation and segregation-of-duties analysis

Workshop: Participants build a tax risk register and control matrix for a VAT/GST and corporate income tax process, including control owners and evidence requirements.

Day 3: Evidence, testing and assurance

• Control design-effectiveness versus operating-effectiveness testing
• Tax control evidence standards and document-retention requirements
• Test scripts, population definition, sampling and exception evaluation
• Walkthrough testing for manual tax reconciliations and review controls
• Testing automated controls in ERP tax data and reporting workflows
• Deficiency classification, root-cause analysis and compensating controls
• Three-lines assurance models for tax, finance control and internal audit

Workshop: Participants write a control test script, select a sample, evaluate simulated evidence and issue a documented finding with a severity rating.

Day 4: Governance reporting and remediation

• RACI matrices for tax risk ownership, review and escalation
• Tax governance charters, committee terms of reference and annual calendars
• Key risk indicators and key control indicators for tax oversight
• Management dashboards for control status, overdue actions and emerging risks
• Remediation plans with actions, owners, due dates and validation criteria
• Escalation thresholds for material tax risks and uncertain tax positions
• Preparing TCF evidence packs for tax authority, audit committee and internal audit review

Workshop: Participants design a tax governance RACI, remediation tracker and one-page dashboard for reporting a material control deficiency to the tax risk committee.

Day 5: TCF implementation planning and practical application

• TCF maturity assessment and prioritisation of implementation workstreams
• Phased implementation sequencing for policy, process, controls and assurance
• Integrating the TCF with tax provision, return compliance and ERP change processes
• Data ownership and technology dependencies in tax-control implementation
• Engaging finance, IT, legal, shared services and external advisers
• Preparing for cooperative compliance discussions and tax authority transparency requests
• Ninety-day implementation planning and measures of framework effectiveness

Workshop: Participants complete and present a TCF implementation pack containing a maturity assessment, prioritised roadmap, governance model and 90-day action plan.

Tools & standards covered

OECD Tax Control Framework guidance, COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework, ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems, Microsoft Excel

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions