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Thomas founded Aurifer, an award-winning boutique tax firm established in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai and Riyadh.
After a decade of working at tier 1 tax law firms in Brussels and Paris, and after having been seconded with Deloitte in the Gulf, it was time to spread his wings and personally serve the exciting Gulf market. He is grateful to be surrounded by high quality people who want to make their mark in the Gulf tax market.
Thomas has been involved in several high-profile deals and have worked for blue chip and quoted companies and institutions in various sectors. In recent years Thomas has also been heavily involved in tax policy in Europe and the Gulf. Recently, he has been assisting businesses in assessing them with their readiness for the introduction of VAT and Corporate Income Tax and helping them with coping with new tax challenges in the Gulf driven by tax reform. He advises businesses on compliance with direct taxation and transfer pricing in the region.
He is the Co-Chair of the Middlesex/Aurifer GCC Tax Certificate. Thomas is also teaching taxation at Paris Sorbonne Abu Dhabi since 2017, as well as at the DIFC Academy of Law.
He holds a law degree of the Catholic University of Leuven (cum laude) and a tax master’s degree of Solvay Business School (magna cum laude).
He is hands-on, proactive and combine a technical skill set with a sound understanding of what makes businesses tick.
Partner
Nirav is a qualified Chartered Accountant with more than nine years of experience in indirect taxes such as GST, Service tax, VAT, Excise tax and Customs. He has assisted several MNC clients in GST and VAT implementation in India, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain since 2017. He has been instrumental in leading end-to-end VAT implementation projects for clients operating in the business of insurance, real estate and construction, manufacturing and trading of consumer and industrial goods, hospitality and travel and logistics.
He has been instrumental in providing advisory support to clients for assessing the GST/VAT impact on their business including transaction restructuring to mitigate tax risk and cost. He has conducted several workshops and training programs on GST/VAT for clients in the Financial Services industry, FMCG, Industrial Goods sector, Power sector, Non-Banking Financial Corporations and few others. He has conducted training for the key stakeholders of businesses to discuss the impact of GST/VAT. He has managed various Service tax compliance and litigation assignments in the Banking and Financial Sector, Comprehensive Tax Reviews involving analysis of Free Trade Agreements with SAARC Nations along with the detailed review of Rules of Origin.
Priyanka is a Chartered Accountant who has more than 11 years of experience in indirect taxes such as VAT, GST, Service tax, Excise tax, and Customs law. During her career, she has worked with firms such as Ernst & Young (India), PwC (India), Nexdigm (India), and WTS Dhruva Consultants (Dubai). She has advised multinational and domestic companies on a wide range of assignments.
In India, she was actively involved in the implementation of GST for large multinational companies, especially for businesses operating in the healthcare, pharma, retail, and service sector. She has advised clients on complex business transactions and, worked on a variety of indirect tax matters such as tax audits, health-check and reviews, tax due diligence, representation to tax authorities, review of customs valuation, Free Trade Policy advisory, and E-invoicing impact analysis. She has also managed multi-state GST compliances for large conglomerates and assisted in the implementation of tax technology tools. She has conducted training of tax officers during GST introduction in India and contributed to various tax articles published online during the GST.
In the Gulf, she has assisted companies for UAE and Oman VAT implementation which involved impact study analysis, handholding in VAT implementation, preparation of SOPs and tax user manual, and conducting workshop/training for clients on VAT. Priyanka holds a Chartered Accountant (CA) degree from The Indian Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Mumbai, India.
Senior Counsel
+971 58 543 1106
Thomas is a German-qualified lawyer and certified tax advisor. He has practiced in leading German law firms and a fund-of-funds in Hamburg and Munich, and worked with a major German law, tax, and accounting firm in the UAE. His practice covers all areas of GCC tax law, alongside German and international tax law, with a particular focus on corporate and transactional taxation, fund and investment tax, and the taxation of high-net-worth individuals.
He advises clients on navigating the complex tax landscape of the Middle East, with a strong emphasis on supporting German businesses in all tax-related matters connected to their market entry and ongoing activities in the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Thomas holds a PhD in international tax law and an LL.M. from the University of Sydney. He has published on topics relating to German investment and international tax law and is a co-author of authoritative commentaries on the German Foreign Tax Act and the German Investment Tax Act. In addition to his native German, Thomas speaks English and Japanese and has a good command of French.
Transfer Pricing Senior Counsel
+971 58 5345687
Liam Purcell is a qualified tax advisor and chartered accountant who specializes in international taxation, with a particular focus on transfer pricing. Liam spent the first 7 years of his career with EY in Ireland, where he was a Senior Manager in the TP department. In 2022, he moved to the Middle East, where he is now Transfer Pricing Counsel at Aurifer Middle East Tax Consultancy.
Liam has advised high-profile multinationals with respect to their transfer pricing and corporate tax arrangements across a multitude of industries including the pharmaceutical, technology, aircraft leasing and financial sectors.
He has extensive experience advising clients across a number of tax planning issues, including business model design, cost sharing arrangements, Chapter IX business restructuring analyses, intercompany debt pricing, IP valuations, tax controversy etc. Finally, Liam has managed large-scale global transfer pricing documentation projects, including the associated benchmarking studies.
The only way to achieve great things is with great people who truly enjoy their job. Our team is built of lawyers, accountants, and economists who are enthusiastic and take pride in our work.
Our tax advisory services is composed of approximately 10 consultants with different educational and cultural backgrounds. All of them graduated from prestigious universities and colleges. Ambition is what they have in common as well as striving for customer centricity providing high quality services. All consultants have prior tax experience and have teaching experience.
Our consultancy team has long experience in EU VAT, direct and indirect taxation, and government policy. Teaching is one of our passions and our team members have experience in teaching both in academic and business environment.
Since 2017, we have been helping large companies established in the Gulf, with the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in the region, with the company’s founder having participated actively in the policy processes.
The key to our success is a multicultural team, highly specialized and client focused.
We stand for top-level advice which brings the desired sustainable benefits for our clients.
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