VAT forums head to Northern Emirates

dubai - The three sessions will be held in Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah on January 13

Khaleej Times, the UAE's first English newspaper, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (Dubai chapter) will hold three simultaneous forums on value-added tax (VAT) on January 13 in three Northern Emirates.

The three sessions - to be addressed by four VAT experts in each programme - will be held in Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah on Saturday (January 13).

Around 1,000 UAE residents and ICAI members will attend the 'VAT Clinic' series organised with the support of Qadi Accountants, a boutique advisory firm that provides services ranging from audit, accounting, advisory and taxation.

The Sharjah event will be addressed by Naveen Sharma, chairman, ICAI Dubai chapter; Anish Mehta, secretary, ICAI; and will include a special address by Sudesh Aggarwal, chairman, India Trade Centre & Giant Group, and former chairman IBPC-Sharjah. It is being held in Al Qasba.

Other tax panelists include Brian Conn, VAT partner, BDO UAE; Gopu Rama Naidu, managing partner, KGRN Accounting Associates; and Rajiv Hira, director for business advisory, KPI.

In Ajman, Vishant Mehta, manager for VAT at Al Shirawi Group; Jai Prakash Agarwal, manager for Oracle implementation at Aster DM Healthcare; and Shailesh Khandelwal, CEO and founder of Shailesh Khandelwal Accounting, will answer members' questions.

S. Vankatesh, managing partner at MCA Auditing and former chairman of ICAI Dubai chapter, will deliver a special address. A maximum of 500 members will attend the 'VAT Clinic' to be held at the Ramada Hotel & Suites Ajman.

The third 'VAT Clinic' will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn, Ras Al Khaimah. To be attended by nearly 200 people, the forum will be addressed by M. Hanumantha Kumar, managing director, MCA Management Consultants; Surandar Jesrani, partner and CEO, Morison MJS Tax Consultancy; and Bhavin Raithatha, managing, system, internal audit and risk, Mayur Batra Group.

Sharma said the aim to organise these forums is to disseminate information about VAT, help companies in the Northern Emirates to cope with challenges and answer their queries about the new tax regime.

"The Northern Emirates have not seen the kind of awareness we have seen in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. So, the ICAI Dubai chapter - which includes Ajman and Sharjah - believes it is our obligation to go there and organise the most popular forum that we have been organising along with Khaleej Times. The response has been amazing.

"Companies in the Northern Emirates want to know how to sort out practical difficulties. They are busy coping with the challenges of IT systems, so it is our responsibility to provide all information to these entities," Sharma concluded.

- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com