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Though the KPMG Dubai tax team was only officially established in 2003, it has quickly become a strong presence in the market. Seven partners are spread across several offices across the GCC, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. They ... [more]

Though the KPMG Dubai tax team was only officially established in 2003, it has quickly become a strong presence in the market. Seven partners are spread across several offices across the GCC, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. They are supported by a staff of 70 fee earners, mostly concentrated in the corporate tax area. Ashok Hariharan, the senior partner, oversees the Oman and UAE office, the UAE is considered informally to be the regional hub.

Hossam Fahmy has joined the team as head of Zakat and tax for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan to take advantage of the likely future opportunities in Islamic financing.

The team offers a broad range of tax services and sees continued growth despite hampered M&A activity as a result of the economic crisis in the West. Their international tax advisory services includes tax risk management and they have also been worked on transfer pricing assignments. Hariharan and Philip Bond were engaged in a rewrite of a multinational's global transfer pricing model so it was acceptable to Oman tax authorities.

In January 2012, Hariharan and Bond obtained a favourable ruling from the Oman Supreme Court that held dividends are not taxable during 2009 and after. As a result, it is now possible to claim relief on amounts arising from assessments made relating to tax years up to 2009 that have not been agreed and overseas dividends that have been taxed.

KPMG's tax practice is led by Eran Shalev. The team largely serves prominent clients in traditional markets such asretail, industry and finance. The audit and tax practice have close links and many of the the firm's tax work is done for companies that ... [more]

KPMG's tax practice is led by Eran Shalev. The team largely serves prominent clients in traditional markets such asretail, industry and finance. The audit and tax practice have close links and many of the the firm's tax work is done for companies that are also audited by KPMG.

Despite the economic recession that has to some extent had an effect on every country, the team has continued to advise in many large M&A deals that have been occurring in the region. Value added tax has also become a topic of focus for the team and they have started to put more resources to make this area stronger. Over the past year, the team has been busy in preparing foreign financial institutions for the phased enforcement of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in 2013. Compliance and tax returns are areas that the team will be focusing on in preparing clients for FATCA. A director from KPMG in the US has joined the team to help out.

Eli Piterman is a financial services and VAT specialist, though he is also respected by his peers for the work he has done in corporate tax. A client notes: "Eli is helpful within local tax issues. " Johnathan Fisher is recognised to be "high professional advisory, high level of integrity, and ability to deal with complex business tax structures". His expertise lies in international tax work. Shay Shalhevet is known for his in-depth knowledge of indirect tax matters.