Nov,2017

The impending landmark tax reform in the GCC has opened the floodgates of new opportunities for accounting and tax professionals from across the globe. Tax professionals from India with a track record of implementing complex VAT-model tax systems are finding the country attractive for their careers.

The Gulf region, which already boasts the world’s largest concentration of Indian chartered accountants abroad, continues to show strong preferences for these professionals given their relatively higher availability and expertise and experience with complex accounting procedures. Another reason is the strong presence of Indian business firms, for whom tax and accounting experts from their homeland are a natural choice. “There is an unprecedented demand of chartered accountants in the UAE in a level I have not seen over the past 20 years. VAT will have big impact over the full supply chain of business from procurement to sales.

Various accounting firms are already on a hiring spree with a target to increase their work force by 40-80 per cent. Recruitment firms are reporting a flood of enquiries for candidates with multi-skills of IT and taxation combined. “VAT has already opened doors to experienced qualified accountants and Indian CAs stand to benefit considerably even more as they are exposed to indirect taxation including a much more complex GST (Goods and Services Tax).

In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are rolling out VAT in less than 40 days, many tax firms, including accounting and consultancy majors, both international and Indian, are looking at making the most of the opportunity opened up by the process of transforming to the game-changing VAT regime. Experts estimate that demand for VAT specialists will outstrip supply, especially since CAs are in high demand in India now following the introduction of GST.

The Indian business environment has been governed by multiple regulatory environments, including that of Direct and Indirect Tax Laws, he points out. The accounting profession in India, more particularly, the chartered accountants, governed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, have been proving themselves in relation to compliance of the various laws and more specifically with reference to Tax Laws, both Direct Tax Laws such as Income Tax and Corporate tax Laws and many Indirect Tax laws including Sales Tax, Excise Tax, Service Tax and of late, the GST, which is considered to be the most complex of all. Besides, they have been also rendering support to the business entities in the UAE and other parts of the world for more than half a century in their respective environments.

“The natural environments of the Professional Accounting Education and the Practice of Accounting Profession in a compliance-focused environment get the Indian CAs well quipped in order to ensure compliance with reference to the tax laws. Such a professional atmosphere qualifies them to be considered as the natural choice by the business community in the UAE.

Source credit: Khaleejtimes.com