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Founding Partner
+971 58 263 3018
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.
Partner
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.
Partner
+971504354516
Asib has two decades of professional experience, predominantly in transfer pricing and international tax. He has developed multi-jurisdictional TP experience, in the UK, Japan and currently UAE / GCC. His TP experience spans advisory (both to multinationals and tax authorities), as well as in-house. His formative years as a TP advisor were with Big 4 specialist transfer pricing teams. In addition, Asib has held senior analytics roles across a number of UK government departments.
Asib’s key TP expertise is in the technology sector, having been the standalone global transfer pricing lead for a fast-growing advertising technology business. He has managed multiple Advance Pricing Agreements and responses to tax authority enquiries across sectors.
Asib has led on change projects covering the full transfer pricing lifecycle. He designed and oversaw the implementation of a new transfer pricing model at the start of his in-house role and then subsequently developed the business case for automation of the model. He has advised tax authorities during critical periods of legislative update. He has regularly worked with groups establishing transfer pricing policies for the first time.
Asib holds an Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology. He also has the Advanced Diploma in International Taxation (ADIT) and the Diploma in Tax Technology (DITT) from the Chartered Institute of Taxation. He is currently studying for CIOT’s Pillar Two Award.
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.
Of Counsel
Brian is an Of Counsel at Aurifer and has over 35 years of indirect tax experience. Before joining Aurifer, he was a VAT partner at ALTUS Tax Consultants in the Gulf, a firm which he co-founded.
Brian moved to the Gulf 10 years ago, to act as Director for PwC Middle East, advising and assisting clients on the introduction of VAT across the GCC and on VAT implementation projects in the UAE. Prior to this Brian worked for PwC in the UK and Ireland, where he specialized in advising large multi-national clients on all aspects of VAT and in particular assisting clients with audits undertaken by the tax authorities and dealing with EU cross-border issues and advising client operating across the EU.
Previously, Brian also worked over 15 years as a VAT inspector with HM Revenue & Customs in the UK, where he was responsible for carrying out VAT audits and verifying VAT declarations made by businesses.
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 team is composed of 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.
JBC4 3802, Cluster N, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, UAE.
201, 14th floor, Al Sarab Tower, ADGM Square, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
Al Anoud Tower L18, Office 1802 King Fahad Road Riyadh Saudi Arabia
Regus Business Centre, Floor No. 2, D Ring Road, Al Mataar, Al Qadeer District, Doha, Qatar
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