James is the Head of Indirect Tax at RAI Audit and Tax. RAI was set up in 2019 by His Excellency Riyad Al Mubarak to be a national champion professional services firm in the UAE and wider Middle East Region.
James started his career at Deloitte in the UK Indirect Tax Team advising multinational clients on their UK and global activities. During his time in the UK James qualified as a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
In May 2016 James moved to Deloitte Middle East and was one of first Indirect Tax advisers in the region. James ran numerous VAT implementation projects in the UAE and across the GCC, including a National Oil Company, two of the largest global IOCs, one of the biggest family groups in KSA and one of the fastest growing power generation and renewable energy companies in the MENA region. James also supported two GCC governments with their VAT implementations.
Following the implementation of VAT in 2018, James was appointed the Deloitte Middle East Indirect Tax Leader for Energy, Resources & Industrials (ER&I). In addition to day to day advisory and compliance work, as part of his role James supported clients through FTA audits, managed large VAT health checks, helped clients throughout the appeals process with respect to VAT assessments and penalties and advised on large VAT transformation and supply chain projects.
James achieved 1:1 BA (hons) Accounting & Finance at the University of Exeter.