If you are interested in this candidate, please contact Andrew Wilson via email awilson@cerfinancial.co.uk or call on 0207 626 6065.

Overview:

• Early-career tax professional with experience across investment management and global mobility tax in financial services.
• Strong technical exposure to fund taxation, withholding tax reclaims, transaction tax reporting, pension scheme returns, international tax reporting and fund due diligence across real estate, debt and equity structures.
• Demonstrates a strong interest in tax technology and process improvement, with hands-on exposure to Alteryx, Power BI, AI-enabled automation, MTD initiatives and SaaS development projects designed to improve tax compliance and reporting processes.

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EDUCATION:

2012: University

BSC (Hons) Economics 2:1

2020: Chartered Institute of Taxation

Associate Member

2018: Institute of Chartered Accountant

Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA)

2013: The Association of Accountancy Bodies

Associate Accounting Technician (AAT)

PUBLICATIONS:

• Making Taxation the Mainstay of the Nigerian Economy, Tax Planning International Review (a publication of Bloomberg BNA), May 2017
• Government’s Plan to Accelerate Non-Oil Revenue Generation: Implications for Nigerian Taxpayers, Tax Planning International Review (a publication of Bloomberg BNA), April 2017
• Nigeria’s Insurance Industry: An Unfair Tax Burden, International Tax Review (a publication of Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc), October 2016
• Time Value of Money: The Need to Index Nigerian Taxes for Inflation, Tax Notes International, July 2016
• Other numerous contributions to PwC tax alerts and publications

CAREER HISTORY:

February 2022 – Present

Big 4

Financial Services and Real Estate Indirect Tax Assistant Manager

Key experiences include preparing and reviewing several Financial Services (‘FS’) and Real Estate Indirect Tax technical papers and supporting on two of the five largest KPMG FS Indirect Tax priority client accounts in role as the VAT Assistant Manager. I also operate a formal role to support the co-ordination and management of business development opportunities for KPMG by leveraging contacts of senior colleagues across the KPMG Banking sector.

• Managing client relationships with contacts ranging from: Heads of Tax / VAT to VAT managers; Chief Financial Officers to Financial Controllers and various other client business contacts (e.g. members of staff from finance, commercial or technology departments).
• Entering into and managing correspondence (both verbal and written) with HMRC on behalf of clients regarding VAT compliance, non- statutory clearances, complex VAT audit issues and VAT refund claims submitted.
• Presenting at bi-monthly client forums on technical UK VAT matters.
• Currently undergoing a KPMG FS M&A VAT secondment. This role covers working as the sole point of contact for all KPMG FS M&A transactions which covers several M&A deals over the last 3 months till date with sectors ranging from banking, insurance, payments, asset management and private equity.
• Supporting on two complex UK FS VAT audits with an audit material thresholds of c. EUR 250m. This covers carrying out VAT audit risk assessments and providing an audit opinion on the client’s level of risk of material misstatement relating to VAT.
• Provide coaching to junior staff on both a formal and informal basis including on- the-job training and facilitating training programmes.
• Supporting on a balanced portfolio of compliance and advisory clients across FS and Real Estate including advice on capital goods scheme, transfer of going concern, VAT grouping, VAT recovery and liability positions of holding companies and fund management companies etc. This also includes VAT registrations and deregistration of groups and single VAT entities and monthly/quarterly VAT reviews and filings.

UK VAT savings review – Top 20 Global Bank

• Highlights include self-generating two VAT refunds submitted to HMRC on behalf of the Bank.
• One VAT claim has been paid by HMRC which resulted in £2m of VAT savings in input tax recovery generated from recharges made by the Bank.
• Another VAT claim is close to agreement with HMRC following a period of negotiation. The claim should provide an estimated VAT saving of c.£8m (i.e. £1m per quarter) in input tax recovery generated from charges made from the Bank’s UK branch to the Bank’s non-UK head office.
• Other tasks covered during the lifecycle of the project included preparing complex VAT technical advice and co-ordinating with the client’s Finance, Tax and Legal teams to carry out a forensic analysis of the fact pattern underpinning the VAT claims.
• Drafted reports to Management (at Board Level) summarising results of reviews performed, opportunities identified and provided recommendations for next steps which required Board approval prior to submitting any VAT claims to HMRC.

Real Estate indirect tax advisory and compliance

• Work with the Real Estate Indirect Tax team (which included working closely with the M&A teams) to provide buy and sell side indirect tax advisory services specifically on due diligence reports, structure papers and steps plans.
• Successfully negotiated a VAT refund with HMRC on deal fees which resulted in a repayment in excess of c.£400k.
• Work with other Real Estate tax service lines on the same clients to co-ordinate the delivery of tax advice and actively sought ways to introduce each other on clients where no current relationship was in place for their tax service line.
• Developed strong internal and external relationships to become the primary point of contact for two large Real Estate clients which included preparing, reviewing and reconciling over 20 VAT returns per quarter.
• Other responsibilities included monitoring client deadlines for large portfolios with differing staggers, devising timetables and responding to ad hoc real estate VAT queries.

October 2020 – December 2021

Big 4

Indirect Tax and Corporate Tax Consulting Manager

• Managed clients’ portfolios and lead teams which comprises of associates and senior associates while performing their grade level duties highlighted below.
• Engaged in business developments of winning new clients and managing business relationships with existing clients
• Built and maintained relationships with tax authorities and other relevant regulatory authorities on behalf of clients
• Responsible for facilitating trainings and providing advice on international trade especially with respect to interpretation of ECOWAS treaty and AfCFTA impacts on Nigerian businesses

January 2017 – September 2020

Big 4

Indirect Tax and Corporate Tax Consulting Senior Associate

• Led and reviewed customs and excise advisory, customs compliance reviews and customs process effectiveness of several local and multinational companies. This includes but not limited to advice on import duty incentives, rules of origin and customs valuation etc.
• Led, reviewed and assisted with several due diligence and corporate restructuring engagements with revenue and asset values between
• $10 million to $100 million. Projects relating to mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and disposals for domestic and cross-border transactions. Client portfolio includes multinationals in the consumer and industrial market, power, oil & gas, financial services and REIT sectors.
• Reviewed financial statements, trial balances, fixed assets register and other financial documents for financial inefficiencies
• Reviewed accounting treatment of major transactions which form basis of tax treatments.
• Applied analytical & quantitative skills by reviewing corporate tax and indirect tax computations and highlighting the significant issues in the computations and how it impacts companies’ financials.
• Facilitated new-hires and client (local and non-resident) trainings on the understanding and application of various legislations as it relates to M & A, corporate tax and indirect tax projects for 4 consecutive years.

January 2014 – December 2016

Big 4

Indirect Tax and Corporate Tax Consulting Associate

• Analysed financial and non-financial information of investors to understand key drivers and target companies to identify risks that could impact business or investment decisions
• Evaluated pitchbooks, financial models and sales and purchase agreements to ascertain correctness and completeness of financial, legal, tax and regulatory assumptions as well as provisions for investment purpose
• Performed jurisdictional analysis on compliance requirements across various countries to determine optimal options for business expansion objectives; reviewing subject matters such as double treaty provisions, profit repatriation restrictions, foreign exchange controls, regulatory approvals etc.
• Provided support to subunits within the firm and teams from other member firms, during the planning, execution and integration stages of transactions or deals
• Developed simulations to estimate potential exposures and cost saving options for various infrastructure business models
• Facilitated interaction with relevant authorities for obtaining tax and regulatory approvals and exemption certificates for proposed business restructurings, deals and transactions. Also, for audits, reconciliation meetings, advocacy visits and assisting with other requests put forward by the client
• Provided general compliance and advisory services including preparing computations, filing returns and obtaining tax clearance certificates for corporate taxes and indirect taxes, value added tax, withholding tax, payroll related taxes, capital gains tax etc. for multinationals and expatriates in the Oil & Gas, financial services, consumer and retail market, hospitality and REIT sectors. Also, performed tax reviews and assisting with state and federal direct and indirect tax audits

References Available Upon Request

If you are interested in this candidate, please contact Andrew Wilson via email awilson@cerfinancial.co.uk or call on 0207 626 6065.

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