Tax Compliance Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Tax Managers, Financial Controllers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-T-034

Before you join: Participants should understand core financial statements, general ledger processes, accruals, and basic corporate tax and VAT/GST terminology.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Tax compliance depends on more than submitting returns on time. Finance and tax teams must translate legislation into accurate calculations, maintain evidence for deductions and exemptions, control data flowing from source systems, and respond quickly when direct or indirect tax rules change. Errors can create interest, penalties, denied input tax recovery, incorrect withholding, delayed audits, and avoidable management attention. A disciplined compliance process connects statutory obligations, tax accounting, transaction data, review controls, and accountable ownership.

This course develops the practical methods needed to manage corporate income tax, VAT/GST, withholding tax, payroll-related tax obligations, transfer pricing documentation, and tax authority enquiries. Participants build filing calendars, taxable-profit bridges, VAT/GST transaction maps, withholding matrices, tax risk registers, reconciliations, and audit-ready evidence files. They examine how to assess legislative changes, distinguish confirmed requirements from proposals, test tax controls, document technical positions, and prioritise remediation work. The course addresses direct and indirect tax obligations in a way that can be applied to the participant's relevant jurisdiction.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with worked tax cases, group analysis of transaction data, return reconciliations, control-testing scenarios, and tax authority enquiry simulations. Participants apply the methods to realistic situations involving cross-border service payments, input tax recovery, related-party charges, tax adjustments, and filing errors. Each participant leaves with a reusable tax compliance toolkit, including templates for calendars, risk registers, reconciliations, evidence management, and change assessments. The course is particularly suitable for finance professionals who prepare, review, approve, or support tax filings and related controls.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a statutory tax compliance calendar covering filings, payments, evidence, and review points
  • Reconcile financial statement balances to corporate income tax return calculations
  • Map VAT/GST transactions to determine tax treatment, recovery eligibility, and reporting requirements
  • Assess withholding tax obligations using payment-type, residency, treaty, and documentation evidence
  • Evaluate legislative changes through a structured tax impact assessment
  • Test tax controls using risk-control matrices, evidence reviews, and exception analysis
  • Prepare audit-ready tax files and technical position papers for authority enquiries
  • Develop a 90-day tax compliance remediation plan with owners, deadlines, and evidence requirements

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Prepare stronger tax reconciliations with clear links to source records and returns
  • Identify tax errors before submission through structured review and exception testing
  • Assess direct and indirect tax changes with defensible documented reasoning
  • Contribute effectively to tax audits, information requests, and technical discussions
  • Build a credible tax compliance improvement plan for an assigned business area

For your organisation

  • Fewer late, inaccurate, or unsupported tax filings
  • Improved traceability from transaction data through tax returns
  • Earlier identification of withholding, VAT/GST, and corporate tax exposures
  • Clearer ownership of tax controls, reviews, and remediation actions
  • Better prepared responses to tax authority audits and information requests

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can establish accountable governance, risk assessment, and evidence requirements for tax compliance.

  • Statutory filing calendar mapped to tax types, entities, and deadlines
  • Tax governance roles assigned through RACI and documented delegations
  • Three-lines model applied to ownership, review, and independent assurance
  • Materiality thresholds set for reconciliations, adjustments, and escalation decisions
  • Tax risk register scored by likelihood, impact, control, and owner
  • Evidence retention schedule aligned with statutory limitation periods
  • Change-control log records law updates, system changes, and policy revisions

Participants can prepare and review a taxable-profit computation supported by clear workpapers.

  • Taxable profit bridge reconciles financial statements, returns, and tax adjustments
  • Permanent and temporary differences classified under IAS 12 principles
  • Capital allowance schedules distinguish qualifying expenditure, rates, and claims
  • Loss utilisation tested against carryforward limits, ownership changes, and restrictions
  • Related-party charges reviewed for deductibility, documentation, and withholding exposure
  • Provisions and uncertain tax positions assessed using recognition evidence
  • Return workpapers link source balances to each material tax computation

Participants can determine VAT/GST treatment and reconcile indirect tax returns to transaction records.

  • VAT/GST transaction mapping identifies supplies, place of supply, and rates
  • Output tax testing reconciles sales ledgers, invoices, and tax returns
  • Input tax recovery tested for eligibility, apportionment, and blocked items
  • Reverse-charge transactions identified from supplier, service, and jurisdiction data
  • Exemption certificates controlled through validity checks and renewal dates
  • Credit notes and bad-debt relief matched to adjustment rules
  • VAT/GST return reconciliations explain timing differences and correction entries

Participants can identify and document withholding and payroll-related tax obligations for payments and employees.

  • Withholding tax matrix links payment types, rates, treaties, and certificates
  • Beneficial ownership evidence assessed before treaty-rate withholding is applied
  • Payroll tax obligations separated from employee income-tax withholding requirements
  • Cross-border service payments screened for permanent establishment and withholding triggers
  • Tax residency documentation tested against domestic rules and treaty tie-breakers
  • Annual information returns reconciled to payroll, vendor, and banking data
  • Payment-on-account deadlines monitored through a controlled tax calendar

Participants can assess tax law changes and convert them into controlled implementation actions.

  • Legislative change register captures effective dates, transitional rules, and affected processes
  • Official guidance ranked by legal authority, relevance, and implementation urgency
  • Impact assessments trace each change to transactions, systems, controls, and returns
  • Tax policy updates distinguish confirmed law from proposed measures
  • Scenario analysis quantifies cash, rate, filing, and data consequences
  • Control owners receive dated actions, dependencies, and evidence requirements
  • Post-implementation reviews test whether revised procedures operate as designed

Participants can create traceable data flows and supporting records for reliable tax reporting.

  • Source-to-return data lineage documents systems, transformations, reconciliations, and approvals
  • Chart-of-accounts mapping flags tax-sensitive accounts and required supporting evidence
  • Exception reports identify duplicate invoices, missing tax codes, and unusual rates
  • Master-data controls govern tax codes, supplier status, and customer exemptions
  • Reconciliation protocol separates data errors, timing items, and technical adjustments
  • Document index supports retrieval of contracts, invoices, elections, and correspondence
  • Version control preserves approved returns, workpapers, and amendment histories

Participants can identify transfer pricing documentation requirements and support related-party tax positions.

  • OECD transfer pricing method selection compares functions, assets, risks, and comparables
  • Intercompany agreement review aligns pricing clauses with actual conduct
  • Local file evidence links related-party transactions to tested party outcomes
  • Benefit tests support management-service charges and cost allocation keys
  • Country-by-country reporting data reconciles revenue, profit, employees, and taxes
  • Intercompany balances checked for withholding, indirect tax, and documentation implications
  • BEPS Action 13 deadlines mapped to group reporting responsibilities

Participants can design, test, and monitor controls that prevent and detect tax compliance failures.

  • COSO control activities mapped to tax risks, assertions, and evidence
  • Preventive controls distinguish tax determination errors before return preparation
  • Detective controls use variance analysis, reconciliations, and exception reports
  • Segregation-of-duties review tests preparation, approval, payment, and posting access
  • Control testing records population, sample basis, exceptions, and remediation
  • Key control indicators track late filings, adjustments, and unresolved exceptions
  • Management certification pack documents review, challenge, and sign-off

Participants can organise evidence and manage tax authority enquiries through a controlled response process.

  • Audit-ready file structures correspondence, returns, contracts, and supporting schedules
  • Information requests logged with owners, due dates, privilege, and status
  • Technical position papers state facts, law, analysis, conclusion, and evidence
  • Voluntary disclosure decisions assessed against penalties, interest, and discovery risk
  • Objection timelines tracked from assessment notices through appeal stages
  • Tax authority meetings prepared with agreed facts, messages, and recordkeepers
  • Settlement proposals evaluated against technical merits, cash cost, and precedent

Participants can prioritise tax compliance improvements and assign actions for sustained control performance.

  • Compliance calendar integrates filing, payment, documentation, and governance milestones
  • 90-day remediation plan prioritises high-risk gaps, owners, and due dates
  • KPI dashboard sets filing timeliness, error rates, adjustments, and closure targets
  • Quarterly tax review agenda covers changes, exposures, controls, and decisions
  • Escalation protocol defines thresholds for advisers, management, and audit committee
  • Action tracker links findings to evidence, validation, and closure approval
  • Personal application plan assigns first actions, stakeholders, and follow-up dates

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Statutory tax compliance calendar template
  2. Tax risk register and control matrix
  3. Taxable-profit bridge workpaper model
  4. VAT/GST transaction mapping checklist
  5. Tax legislative change impact assessment template
  6. 90-day tax compliance remediation plan

Who should attend

  • Tax Managers — responsible for filing quality, tax risk, and legislative change implementation
  • Financial Controllers — accountable for tax reporting, reconciliations, and finance control performance
  • Finance Managers — oversee accounting data and review processes feeding tax returns
  • Accountants — prepare tax schedules, reconciliations, journals, and supporting documentation
  • Internal Auditors — assess tax risks, control design, and evidence of operating effectiveness
  • Shared Services Managers — manage transactional data, tax codes, and filing support activities

Skills and tools covered

Tax return reconciliationVAT/GST complianceWithholding tax analysisTax risk managementTax control testingAudit evidence management

Tools and standards

COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework, OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines, OECD BEPS Action 13

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish tax rules, compliance methods, and control requirements. Participants then work through realistic cases involving taxable-profit adjustments, VAT/GST coding, withholding tax on cross-border payments, legislative changes, and tax authority enquiries. Group exercises focus on reconciling data, assessing evidence, testing controls, and documenting conclusions. Simulations examine filing reviews and audit responses. Participants finish by preparing an application plan for priority compliance improvements in their own function.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand core financial statements, general ledger processes, accruals, and basic corporate tax and VAT/GST terminology. Experience preparing, reviewing, posting, or supporting tax-related transactions is useful, particularly in accounting, finance operations, tax, payroll, or internal audit roles. Participants should be comfortable working with reconciliations and transaction data. The course does not require a tax qualification, legal training, advanced tax planning experience, transfer pricing specialism, or prior experience dealing directly with a tax authority.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

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

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic accounting records, financial statements, and common tax terms such as taxable profit, VAT/GST, and withholding tax. No tax qualification or legal background is required.

Bring a laptop if possible, along with examples of your filing calendar, tax reconciliations, recurring tax issues, or control concerns. Do not bring confidential taxpayer data, customer records, or unapproved tax authority correspondence.

The course is designed for tax, accounting, controllership, finance operations, payroll, and internal audit professionals with tax compliance responsibilities. It is also relevant for managers who review tax filings or own controls feeding tax reporting.

This course focuses on recurring compliance processes: accurate filings, evidence, reconciliations, controls, change management, and audit readiness. It does not focus on aggressive tax planning, detailed legal interpretation, or transaction structuring.

You can use the templates to map tax obligations, reconcile returns, assess new tax rules, test controls, and organise audit evidence. The methods can be adapted to your jurisdiction's legislation and your organisation's tax process.

The programme provides approximately 32.5 contact hours, normally from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Ten modules are taught in sequence through briefings, cases, group work, simulations, review discussions, and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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