About IITF

A new era in tax and financial education – A message from the CEO

The International Institute for Tax & Finance (IITF) is a provider of higher education in the fields of tax and finance.  The IITF focuses on delivering African (sub-Saharan) content to various countries in Africa, as well as educating non-Africans about the intricacies of Tax and Finance into Africa.

IITF delivers these programs through various associations, but primarily the one with Thomas Jefferson School of Law, USA (TJSL). TJSL is an American Bar Association (ABA) approved tertiary education institution in the USA. The ABA is recognised by the US Department of Education, and the states’ equivalents, as the primary accrediting body for US law schools. TJSL is also approved by the American Association of Law Schools, as well as the American Academy of Financial Management.

Through these associations IITF is able to offer students well-recognised, international qualifications.

Over the past decade IITF has educated over 12,000 students from some of the largest multi-national organisations, revenue services and governments of multiple countries on various issues of taxation and finance, including:

IITF in the United States of America:

In the United States, IITF provides:

• Lecturers to the Thomas Jefferson School of Law on their:
  • International Tax and Tax Treaties Course; and
  • LLM in International Tax and Finance.
• Continuous research into the USA tax authorities and legislation;
• Published works about Tax Risk Management.

IITF in Africa:

Courses that have been developed specifically for the African markets are:

1. Higher Diploma in Taxation (South Africa);
2. Advanced Diploma in Tax Procedural Law (South Africa);
3. Advanced Diploma in Payroll Taxation (South Africa);
4. HDip Tax/ MCom 6-week Refresher Course (South Africa);
5. Into Africa Tax Programme (East, West & Southern Africa).
6. Transfer Pricing Workshops throughout Africa

The IITF is currently working on producing the following African programmes for the 2012 academic year:

1. Higher Diploma in Taxation (NIGERIA);
2. Advanced Diploma in Tax Procedural Law (NIGERIA);
3. Diploma in Payroll Taxation (NIGERIA);
4. Transfer Pricing in Africa (AFRICA SPECIFIC);
5. Diploma in Customs & Excise (South Africa).
6. Diploma in Corporate Tax (South Africa)
7. Diploma in Corporate Tax Governance & Anti- Avoidance

By remaining at the cutting edge, on an international scale, IITF is able to offer programs and workshops that keep students at the forefront of developments in their respective fields.

The IITF method

Traditional training and education methods are still prominent when it comes to higher education, and whilst distance learning has become more and more popular, particularly to remote parts of the world, there certainly are some shortcomings, particularly in the area of participation and lecturing.

The Internet has started to change the landscape of education, and the IITF is at the crest of this wave.  By making use of these technologies IITF can deliver its programs to multiple locations, just about anywhere in the world, at once!

The IITF method vs Traditional method

1. All the course materials and libraries are delivered to the student via the Internet on the IITF CAMPUS system.
2. Traditionally this would be done physically – now you do not have to leave your home or your office to access this information.
3. Lectures are also conducted live and in “real-time” through our internet classroom.  The interaction is the same as would be in a traditional lecture, the only difference is that instead of you having to go to a physical location for your lecture, you log into the lecture room via the internet from anywhere.
4. The lecturer is physically on the other side, delivering the lecture, and you can interact with the class and the lecturer, in “real time”.
5. All the lectures are recorded and archived, so you can always reference back to any lecture throughout the duration of the programme – gone are the days where you have to rely on the lecture notes of your “study buddy” if you are not able to make the lecture – in actual fact there is now almost no reason why you cannot attend the lecture, as long as you have a computer with an internet connection you are ready to go!
6. Examinations are also more effective. Students are provided with a simulated problem(s) and are then given a period of time to solve the problem (s), simulating a real life scenario.   This is done remotely at your location – and not a predetermined examination venue!

This method of training is particularly attractive for Africa, specifically in the field of tax.  With little or no information available in many countries in Africa, and with the revenue services in African countries quickly learning from developing nations, people in these countries, in the past, could only gain tax knowledge at huge expense – but the IITF now provides a cost effective learning solution for tax professionals in Africa.

We look forward to training many people in Africa (and people abroad) about tax in Africa in the years to come.

Gil Ferreira
CEO – The International Institute for Tax & Finance.