Vinette Keene, director general of the Tax Administration and Services Department, has worked in tax administration for 25 years. - File

Director General of the Tax Administration Department, Vinette Keene, heads to Washington on November 1 to take up a one-year posting as technical advisor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Keene who has worked in the Jamaican tax system for 25 years, is yet to receive a formal job description, but said she would be operating as a consultant to the Fund.

As a technical advisor she will travel to different countries - including those in the Caribbean - with IMF technical teams to evaluate and make recommendations on their tax and fiscal systems.

"I am excited about this post," Keene told the Financial Gleaner.

"It lends a new dimension to my professional development and give me added exposure not only in networking with colleagues but with other tax and fiscal systems that I will interact."

Development

Keene's track record in the tax services includes a leading role in the development and implementation of the general consumption tax, which led to her being selected as deputy commissioner of field operations for the period 1987 to 1991.

She also acted as Commissioner of the GCT Department and Taxpayer Audit and Assessment Department before being appointed the post of Director General of the Tax Administration and Services Department to become the top tax boss in August 2005.

She goes on secondment within a week from the Ministry of Finance, but her one-year appointment is not a mission on behalf of the government.

Rather it is standard practice for the IMF to draw on expertise from developing countries to carry out jobs of this nature, the Financial Gleaner has learned.

Keene was recruited in this regard. One of her deputies, the Commissioner of Taxpayer Appeals, Errol Hudson, will act as Director General.

Hudson is himself a 35-year veteran in tax administration, having begun his career in the former Income Tax Department.

Relinquish current position

He will relinquish his current position during the year, but the person who will act for him is yet to be finalised according to TASD spokeswoman Meris Haughton.

News of Keene's appointment preceded an announcement Monday that Senator Trevor McMillan also been appointed special advisor to the Finance Ministry.

His responsibilities include formulating and implementing policies to enhance revenue collection and root out corruption and tax evasion.

McMillan says he will speak within a matter of days on the specific policies that he will be assisting with, but in the meantime his appointment was key to revenue protection measures to be implemented by Finance Minister Audley Shaw and his team.