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KPMG has several offices across the GCC including practices in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. Its tax practice there is run as part of its Middle East and South Asia group, headquartered in Pakistan and has different tax practice leaders ... [more]

KPMG has several offices across the GCC including practices in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. Its tax practice there is run as part of its Middle East and South Asia group, headquartered in Pakistan and has different tax practice leaders in each GCC country. Ashok Hariharan leads the firm's tax practice in Oman and the UAE while Eugen Straub has replaced Phillip Marwood in Doha as head of the firm's international tax service line for the Middle East and South Asia region. In Saudi Arabia, the practice is led by former deputy commissioner of taxes in Egypt Ashraf Alarabi. KPMG's Kuwait tax practice is headed by Rasheed Al-Qenae, a former Kuwaiti tax official and member of the Tax Appeal Committee at the Ministry of Finance while the Qatari practice is headed by Ahmed Hussain.

The firm's work across the GCC involves tax due diligence, structuring, transaction support, transfer pricing assignments, group reorganisations and tax risk management. Clients include multinationals in the oil and gas, real estate, telecommunications and technology sectors while sovereign wealth funds also rely on the firm for tax advice. In response to client demand, this year the firm established its global Islamic finance centre in the UAE under Neil Miller. This equips the firm to coordinate Islamic compliant investment and commercial activity in the region. Competitors note that the tax practice of KPMG is closely linked to its accountancy practice, which is very strong in the region. One rival commented that, "They seem to have concentrated more on their accounting practice and somewhat on the audit side of things," though Hariharan said the firm was looking to increase the numbers in its tax practice.

KPMG has a practice in Israel consisting of six partners and 95 fee earners. The firm counts major Israeli companies as well as multinationals among its clients. The tax department is led by Eran Shalev with a partner in charge of either a service line ... [more]

KPMG has a practice in Israel consisting of six partners and 95 fee earners. The firm counts major Israeli companies as well as multinationals among its clients. The tax department is led by Eran Shalev with a partner in charge of either a service line or certain industry sectors within those service lines. Several of the partners are capable and specialised in domestic corporate tax issues, though each has a different focus. Nisim Cohen has particular expertise in real estate tax issues while Ilan Ezra is focussed on M&A and tax issues within the technology sector. Eli Piterman and Yifat Shaaya are capable in domestic corporate tax but Piterman also handles indirect taxes. John Fisher and Dina Pasca-Raz deal with international tax issues for the firm with particular attention paid to cross-border structuring. There is a strong link between its audit practice and its tax practice and notes that much of their tax work is done for companies audited by the firm.

KPMG's tax team in Turkey is led by Abdulkadir Kahraman who is identified by his competitors as a very able tax adviser in several practice areas. The firm provides clients with a full range of tax services, but its transfer pricing service line is especially ... [more]

KPMG's tax team in Turkey is led by Abdulkadir Kahraman who is identified by his competitors as a very able tax adviser in several practice areas. The firm provides clients with a full range of tax services, but its transfer pricing service line is especially distinguished. An outstanding transfer pricing matter completed by the firm was its advice to a multinational food company in its dispute with the Turkish tax authorities. The firm implemented a successful strategy to explain the group's transfer pricing arrangements and ensured the client did not bear any additional tax liability as a result of the audit and dispute. The team from the firm also updated the group's transfer pricing strategy and procedures to ensure that such challenges are less likely to occur in future.