Tax specialist quits to join Ernst & Young

7 Mar 2013

The Treasury's chief director of legal tax design, Keith Engel, is leaving the government to work for one of SA's big four auditing and advisory firms in Johannesburg.

Engel has been part of the Treasury's policy team for close to a decade and has been instrumental in significant amendments to tax legislation in SA. He will be joining Ernst & Young as a partner in its Africa tax practice.

Ernst & Young Africa tax leader Jim Deiotte said the firm was delighted that Engel had chosen to bring his experience from the Treasury. "His combined government and industry knowledge will be extremely valuable for our clients who are working with government, particularly as tax reform moves forward next year," Deiotte said.

The Treasury declined to comment on Engel's departure, saying it considered it an internal matter and that it was not in the habit of commenting on human resource matters. It was not certain who would replace Engel.

Engel is expected to join Ernst & Young in June but no formal announcement has been made.

Industry commentators expressed concern over the loss of talented people such as Engel, questioning the flexibility of the institution's human resources policy and its influence on retaining talent in key positions.

PwC international tax services leader for Africa David Lermer said Engel's move was a real loss to the Treasury and the legislative process in SA.

"He takes with him a lot of experience," said Lemmer

Engel has been a technical advisor to the US Treasury, a tax attorney at the US Inland Revenue Service and has lectured at the University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand.

He was involved in the formulation of policy around negotiations for double-tax agreements between SA and its trading partners, and was closely involved in the recently announced tax relief for foreign companies which use the country as their gateway into Africa.

Tax legislation in SA has evolved over the last few years into an advanced system that is comparable to the best in the world, but the complexity of legislation has often caused "collateral damage" to the economy. Engel conceded at a tax conference in Mozambique last year that several technical corrections had been introduced in tax law - with new tax rules being finalised only to be retracted when some of them disrupted commercial activity.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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