Steve is a senior indirect tax professional leader, with over 37 years of industry, Tax authority and indirect tax experience, from having worked at the UK government HM Revenue & Customs Tax authority, to leading indirect tax teams within practice both here at Grant Thornton and previously at Ernst & Young, Deloitte and BDO in the United Kingdom and GCC markets.
Steve has assisted businesses in UAE, Oman, Bahrain and KSA in VAT implementation and with Excise taxes in Oman and has been in the region for the past 4 years. He is based in Dubai and leads the Tax practice for Grant Thornton which includes leading on all Indirect Taxes, Direct Tax practice for International Tax compliance and restructuring, Economic Substance, Inward bound investment into the region.
He specializes in Communications, Land & Construction, Health-Care, Retail & Leisure. In addition, for the past 6 years prior to moving out to the UAE, Steve had been a VAT specialist within the Oil & Gas sector, advising leading international corporations in both the upstream and downstream industry. Steve has been fundamental in building up the GT Tax team to achieve recognition as the Centre of Tax Excellence for the GCC region. He has a proven track record of leading multi-disciplinary teams with a strong blend of strategic thinking and endeavor by thinking ahead of the curve while pursuing a successful career within Tax.
Steve has also been involved in numerous VAT court disputes in conjunction with leading legal firm in the region against tax authorities whereby the legislation has not been correctly applied by the relevant tax authority, leading to many successful outcomes for his clients.
He has a detailed understanding of ESP systems Automated and digitized Technology systems, including MS Dynamics, SAP, ORACLE, TALLY, OPERA, SUN and VAT Tax engine configuration and has re-written ERP VAT taxing coding systems for clients.
Steve has a wealth of VAT knowledge, performing VAT reviews and implementation projects for his clients, which has resulted in cash-flow savings and superior VAT controls and procedures. He has strong negotiation skills which has aided in settling compliance matters between clients , suppliers and customers.
