VAT Seminar

17 April 2017 - First BIT and BDO UAE will gather seasoned tax professionals, government officials and top managers to share up-to-date knowledge on VAT implementation. We have invited experts from Malaysia and the UK to build your expertise on the practical aspects of VAT Implementation for businesses. We will share technical know-how and worldwide experience and update you on relevant VAT matters as well key implications for the UAE’s key sectors. 

After attending the seminar, you will be able to: 
• Improve your technical knowledge about VAT through presentations from leading BDO and First BIT experts 
• Get prepared for major developments underway in the changing tax environment
• Identify and discuss potential cross-border matters related to VAT implementation
• Enhance professional and personal relationships with senior members of the UAE’s business elite
• Share your own ideas through networking

KEY DISCUSSION TOPICS

Introduction

An overview of VAT principles and the implications for business – the basic VAT information that every business needs to know.

Hot Topics

The latest news on the how the introduction of VAT is progressing across the GCC region.

BDO’s analysis of the VAT Framework Agreement and Country by Country Laws (if available at the time of the seminar). In this session we will focus on the key compliance obligations, the expected problem areas and potential opportunities for relief from VAT under the new law, including:  

• Exemptions
• Zero-rating
• Payment and reporting obligations
• Implications for the Free Zones
• Registration
• Issues to be clarified – the critical issues that are still under consideration and what this would mean for you
• What should business be doing now to prepare for implementation?

  Implementation

• The road map to implementation – how to plan for a smooth transition
• How to ensure staff have the right skills to deal with VAT
• The risks of non-compliance – we will share what can go wrong
• Lessons learnt from Malaysia – BDO delivered numerous implementation projects when VAT was introduced in Malaysia in 2015. In this session we will share the challenges experienced during our implementation

 Technology

Preparing IT systems for VAT implementation:

• Assessing the capability
• Building the functionality
• Automation of VAT processes

Summarising

        Concluding thoughts

        Q & A

Speakers:

- Mok Chew Yin, Partner Advisory BDO Malaysia

Mok was a partner in KPMG before joining BDO. He has undertaken numerous valuations, financial due diligence and other corporate finance assignments locally and overseas including ports, power, water, roads, motor, construction, manufacturing, retail and property. He has also been involved in governance advisory, forensic and expert witness engagements and in various insolvency administrations.

With the introduction of GST in Malaysia, he led one of two dedicated GST teams to assist clients in GST implementation. His implementation engagements covered various industries including power, water, construction, property development, IT services, shipping, food & beverage, manufacturing and trading. He is now involved in GST health checks, review of GST returns and GST advisory.

Mok also has over nine years of commercial experience. Previously, he was a Senior General Manager (Corporate Finance) in a large diversified group listed on Bursa Malaysia.  His responsibilities included acquisitions & disposals, evaluating business proposals and joint ventures and various corporate finance assignments.  He was also a member of the senior management team overseeing the diversified operations of the Group which included manufacturing, property development and investment, healthcare, engineering and construction, financial services, leisure and hotels, infrastructure and utilities. He also has seven years audit experience with a UK accounting firm and another five years advisory experience with KPMG in Melbourne, Australia. Country Experience: Malaysia, United Kingdom, Australia, China, India, Vietnam and Thailand.

-Brian Conn, VAT Partner BDO UAE, KSA and Kuwait

Brian Conn is a VAT Partner at BDO. With over 20 years’ experience, Brian originally trained with HM Customs and Excise (now HM Revenue and Customs) before moving into practice in 1990. After spells with the leading Big 4 firms for many years, Brian joined BDO UAE in 2017, where he heads up the VAT practice for the GCC region.

Brian has advised clients across a wide range of industries, including financial services, oil and gas, retail, manufacturing and distribution, real estate and the government sectors. Many of his clients have international operations and he is experienced in global VAT issues. Notable projects have included advising on the Channel Tunnel rail link between the UK and France, the establishment of the Francis Crick Institute and the London Olympics in 2012. He has also been involved in a number of landmark VAT cases in both the UK and European Courts.

In addition to technical consulting work Brian is also experienced in the delivery of compliance projects, including systems and process improvement and the implementation of VAT technology solutions.

-Evgenii Podborskii, Head of Automation First BIT

Evgenii Podborskii is the Head of Automation at First BIT with over 8 years of experience in automating businesses in the MENA region and the CIS (former Soviet countries). Evgenii majored in software development and, having moved to the UAE in 2013, spearheaded the development of an ERP system for the local trading and distribution industry. Based on his hands-on experience in implementing software supporting VAT and other taxes in the CIS, Evgenii prepares the FirstBIT ERP solution to make clients’ document management systems VAT compliant.

Evgenii led business automation projects for companies of all sizes, from small to enterprise businesses. His clients come from a wide range of industries, including retail, distribution, construction and manufacturing, both in the private and public sectors.

for registration:www.vat-uae.inf