“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths”

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths”

Upon reading this quote I get the same feeling I had when I joined the Tax and Customs Administration (TA) of Suriname. Coming from the Netherlands, having lived and worked there for a long time, it was quite a big step!

Suriname is a unique and beautiful country but it’s still a developing country where it’s necessary to slow your paste and work twice as hard to accomplish your goals. But curiosity and the opportunity for a new challenge got the best of me. I joined the TA in Suriname by the end of 2014. Together with the Tax and Customs Director, Mr. van Dijk, we started with opening a brand new door: we started with the new division International Fiscal Affairs (IFA) in Suriname.

It was time the TA in Suriname got a division that was the official gateway to the international fiscal world. Before this the direct tax department was responsible for national and international affairs. As you can understand the direct tax department had to bite a lot more than they could chew. They did their outmost best but it was time for a new path.

The IFA division is executed by the Ministry of Finance in Suriname. On one hand, IFA provides essential input for policy and planning of international taxes in Suriname, at the same time it is also responsible for administration and implementation of international tax regulations in Suriname. The IFA division reports directly to the Director of Tax and Customs in Suriname. The division is responsible for all international fiscal issues concerning Suriname.

The main focus points of the IFA division are:

• The maintenance and expansion of the tax treaty network, in cooperation with other relevant ministries in Suriname.

• Representing the interests of Suriname with foreign authorities on tax issues affecting both residents and non-residents of Suriname.

• Ensuring that the government of Suriname is kept informed and advised regarding international tax developments.

• International tax research and planning function.

• Provides tax policy and technical information to relevant countries.

Together with my position as head of the IFA division I was also appointed as the CIAT correspondent for Suriname.

A great job with a possibility to share my new experiences through the CIAT blog. So people at CIAT and the readers of the blog I trust that I have made you a little curious about Suriname. In the upcoming posts I will try to provide you with some interesting information about international taxation in Suriname and other relevant experiences.

Till the next time!

Priscilla Lachman

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