Ankur Jain
Ankur is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is also a Certified Privacy Professional accorded by Data Security Council of India. He has over 21 years of post-qualification experience in consultancy and compliances specialising in the field of Indirect taxes (Service Tax, Value Added Tax, Goods & Services Tax, Customs, Central Excise, etc.) including over 7 years of experience in the GCC region. In the past, Ankur was also associated with Ernst and Young for around eight years and with KPMG (Director, Indirect Tax Team) for around five years.
- VAT and GST Implementation for businesses
Ankur has handled five waves of indirect tax changes:
- from General Sales Tax to VAT between years 2002-2006 in India;
- during introduction of GST in India in the year 2017;
- during introduction of VAT in the UAE;
- during introduction of VAT in Bahrain; and
- recent introduction of VAT in Oman.
Such VAT/ GST implementation assignments included determining the financial impact of GST on businesses, review of operating models to assess tax optimization avenues, review of contracts, ERP, business processes to recommend changes required from VAT/ GST perspective. Ankur has worked on over 100 VAT implementation projects across the GCC region.
- Representation to the Government:
- Providing assistance in preparing and filing representations before Tax authorities in GCC and various State VAT Authorities in India for clarifications on interpretational issues
- Worked closely with the team for assisting the Delhi State Governments in transitioning from the sales tax regime to the VAT regime. This project was headed by Mr. Satya Poddar, an eminent indirect tax expert of international repute.
- Due Diligence and Advisory Services
- Carried out a detailed indirect tax due diligence exercise for many multinational companies in GCC and India which involved reviewing their existing practices, identifying potential revenue and tax leakages in their existing structure specifically from a VAT perspective, interacting with their personnel and then recommending tax efficient practices, mitigating tax liability, etc and preparing a presentation and executive summary for the top management
- Involved in rendering opinions on a range of indirect tax technical issues like tax restructuring, VAT credits, product classifications, structuring of import transactions, structuring of business operations, applicability of various indirect taxes primarily GST, VAT, Excise Tax, Customs Duty, Service Tax, Woks Contract Tax, Entry Tax. While rendering Indirect Tax advisory services he:
- Drafted detailed opinions, devised tax efficient model from an Indirect Tax perspective
- Have drafted detailed opinions on appropriate classification of goods from a VAT perspective
- Have advised foreign companies for devising strategies to optimize the indirect taxes to enter the India and the UAE markets. This has involved meeting with the clients and assisting them in day-to-day indirect tax matters starting from obtaining registration, suggesting changes in their IT systems, indirect tax implications on their business models, routine operational issues, etc.
- Tax Compliance
- Actively involved in handholding and supporting operational staff for undertaking tax compliances of a number of groups in GCC region involving tax registration, audit proceedings, preparation and filing of returns
- Carried out a detailed VAT compliance review for various business units in GCC involving review of meeting with personnel of each business units, understanding the business models, examining the veracity of tax positions taken by the Company, preparing a presentation and executive summary for the top management
- Actively involved in handling of large volume VAT refund assignments for various groups in GCC
- Data Protection and Privacy
- Conducted multiple camps for enhancing public awareness on Data Protection and Privacy laws
- Advising companies on the implications under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and draft Data Protection Bill
- Online webinars on Data Protection and Privacy laws with several branches of ICAI
- Tax Tools/ Engines
- Planned and executed a tax engine (gstimpact.com) for determining online the impact of VAT on various businesses. This involved creating online tools for generating an automated report for highlighting impact of GST on various aspect of business
- Academic Highlights
- Speaker in numerous events on VAT in the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar including events
- Written numerous articles that have been published in journals and websites
- Invited by the ICAI and CII to speak on GST and indirect tax issues