The project has a significant research component and, as part of this process, ActionAid and partner organisations have committed to conduct a number of pieces of research at local, national and international levels during the life-time of the project, including baseline studies, which will be conducted in 4 of the 6 participating countries.
In Tanzania, the purpose of this research consultancy is to establish how much revenue the country is losing from tax incentives granted to multi-national corporations, and to recommend how these extra resources should be used to support education, especially for girls. The study will also focus on education spending by families and by government, that is, how much families are spending on /contributing to their child’s education and how much the government is spending per child and also come up with a required cost/amount per child to achieve quality education. Thus the research will analyse the policy and legal framework on tax incentives (including an in-depth analysis of the TIC Act 1997) and key aspects of education spending related to girls’ education, as per the research questions section below.
Approach & Methodology
The study will acknowledge and build on the existing body of relevant and reliable research conducted by ActionAid International, ActionAid Tanzania, partners and stakeholdersto identify key evidence that can contribute to the achievement of ActionAid’s overall research signature, i.e.‘People-led evidence, combined with external knowledge, influences change at local, national and international levels.’
It is expected that the consultant will work closely with ActionAid staff and an international consultant employed by ActionAid, who will support the consultant to design the most appropriate research framework and methodology to ensure that the key research questions are optimally answered.
Overall, the key will be to pin down hard figures, especially in answer to question 4 (see below). As such, the research will mainly involve interviews with government officials and others. Government officials should include those in the Tanzania Revenue Authority; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; and members of the parliamentary committee on budgets. Others should include the IMF and also possibly those in donor agencies such as the World Bank. The key is to obtain access to figures held by these agencies. Interviews with some companies may also be useful, as well as contacts with journalists and others who have carried out research on incentives
For question 4, the consultant should hold interviews with those above and conduct the investigations needed to see what financial figures the government holds and/or to make good estimates of revenue losses based on whatever government figures are available.
Some secondary research (such as the TRA website, for example) and interviews with officials will be required for questions 1-5.
Questions 6-8 will require detailed analysis of the education budget and interviews with education officials.
It is critical that all facts, opinions etc. are fully referenced in all drafts. This should be done in the following style: author, title, date, publication, page number, web address. For personal interviews, referencing should include name of person, place and date.
The consultant should add to and not repeat the information provided below under ‘Background Information’.
Research Framework& Key Questions
As noted above, the consultant will work alongside ActionAid Tanzania staff and the International research consultant to formulate the most relevant research framework, questions and methodology.However critical questions are likely to include:
Tax
1. What statutory tax incentives does the government of Tanzanianow offer? Has there been a change in the past two years? Provide details of its tax incentives policy, outlining which sectors are entitled to incentives, on which taxes, with what reductions. What tax incentives does the government offer in the Export Processing Zones, in the Special Economic Zones and to oil & gas investors?
2. Which individual MNCs receive discretionary tax incentives? What are these incentives and how much are they likely to be worth?
3. What is the latest figure available (in addition to those given in ‘Background Information’) for the national revenue loss from all tax incentives granted by Tanzania to (a) corporations and (b) all others?
4. To what extent is the Tanzanian government committed to reducing tax incentives? What more recent information/analysis can be added to the ‘Background Information’ section?
Education
5. How much are families spending on education for a girl/boy child? How much is the government currently spending per child?
6. What is the cost to achieve quality education per child/what is the education funding gap?
7. How much is the government spending on girls’ education? Are there particular budget lines in the education budget that target girls’ education specifically?What is the investment by the government needed to ensure qualitygirls’ education?
8. How much could the forgone revenue through tax incentives pay for improving education, especially girls’ education?What kinds of extra spending would be the most useful, e.g. sanitation, infrastructure?
NB. Much of the information required for questions 5-7 will be provided by the on-going study on education financing trends in Tanzania being carried out by TEN/MET.
Roles and Responsibilities
The section below outlines key roles and responsibilities to be assigned to the two main parties in the baseline research process, i.e. ActionAid Tanzania and the consultant.
ActionAid
• Assign a technical support team responsible for managing and supporting the overall process e.g. facilitating and providing required documents, facilitating field work for data collection, provision of logistical support etc.
• Facilitate and support consultant’s access to key documentation, including existing relevant research and background information
• Arrange and facilitate stakeholder validation meetings at various levels
• Monitor and ensure that the process is followed as per agreed methodologies and approach.
• Review the quality of the reports and provide timely feedback to the consultant
• Release payments after checking the quality of the deliverables meet the standard and expectations
• Sign off the final research report with relevant annexes by the Executive Director for print and wider circulation.
Consultant
• Initial discussion and agreement on the TOR with AATanzania and International Consultant on the scope, deliverables, time frame and procedures of the research
• Submission of inception reportconfirming the consultant’s understanding of the Terms of Reference, Methodology, Time frame, data collection toolsas well as her/his technical and financial proposal for this piece of work.
• Undertake desk review including analysis of relevant research, policies and strategies relating to access, quality and financing of education.
• Finalisation of the research protocol andtools for qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis to be validated and agreed with AAtechnical team.
• Produce the first draft of the research report and submit to ActionAid for review and feedback
• Present the findings/research report to AATanzania and Stakeholders for validation
• Produce the final report accommodating the inputs and feedback provided.
Deliverables
• An inception report prior to the commencement of the research, confirming the consultant understands of the Terms of Reference as well as her/his technical and financial proposal for this piece of work.
• A full report of at least 25-30 pages including Executive Summary of not more than 4 pagescovering all questions outlined in the TOR (and any subsequently agreed with AATanzania and AAInternational), citing hard, reliable figures and including clear references for all sources cited.
Time-Frame
The work on this research should start in early February 2017, in order to ensure the final report is ready for dissemination bymid-April, 2017.
The exercise will take 19working days broken down into the following activities:
1 day Inception report
3days Review of secondary data
8 days Collection of quantitative and qualitative data from the field
3 Data analysis and report writing
1 Presentation of draftreport to ActionAid Tanzania
2 Incorporating comments and production of a final report
18 Total Number of days
3.Specifications
ActionAid is looking for a qualified and experiencedconsultant, or team of consultantswith a background in conducting research into issues related to taxation and (girls’) education who will be able to provide essential technical leadership and quality assurance throughout the research process. The consultant or consultants are likely to be journalistic investigators, academics working in the field or NGO policy analysts.
Essential:
1. Advanced Degree in the field of Education, Social Research or other relevant Social Science subject.
2. Proven experience of research in the field of tax matters,education financing and issues related to girls’ education
3. Ability to apply a range of primary and secondary research methods including demonstrated ability to conduct investigations involving personal interviews with officials.
4. Experience of working with international NGOs
5. Proven track record of relevant research
6. Excellent communication skills with the ability to tailor communications to a range of audiences, including the production of research for policy change
7. Fluency in written and spoken English
Desirable:
1. Experience of working with ActionAid and understanding of/familiarity with the organisation’stax and education work
4. Selection Process
Candidate selection will be based on the following criteria:
1. The ability to respond to and meet the essential and desirable specifications outlined in this terms of reference
2. Demonstrated capacity to undertake the type of services sought
3. Relevant academic and professional qualifications and experience
4. Proposed budget and schedule
5. Applications
Interested candidates are invited to submit the following application documents:
• A copy of the CV or CVs of the consultant or consultants who will be assigned to conduct the work
• A technical proposal (max 8 sides of A4) detailing a) how the consultant/s meet the selection criteria and b) their understanding of the ToR c) financial proposal and d) availability
• A sample of relevant reports or publications
• Contact details of 2 independent referees
Please send your applications to: jobs.tanzania@actionaid.org
The deadline for applications is: 13/1/2017