Naishadh Soneta joins Tax Advisory practice of FTI Consulting

FTI Consulting has strengthened its Tax team in the UAE with Naishadh Soneta, who brings over a dozen years of experience in taxation expertise  to the firm.

The US-headquartered consulting group launched its Tax Advisory practice in January this year, bringing in former Big Four advisors Nilesh Ashar (Senior Managing Director) and Sameep Uchil (Managing Director) to kickstart the offering. They are now joined at the top by Soneta, who similarly arrives with a Big Four background.

Appointed a Managing Director, Dubai-based Soneta will help FTI Consulting build out its services in the indirect tax domain. He specialises in VAT advisory and implementation work, and works with clients across the GCC region.

“The arrival of Naishadh continues our investment in what is an area of high priority for our clients,” said Ashar, who prior to joining FTI Consulting led KPMG’s International Tax practice in the UAE.

“The VAT regime has been in operation for five years now, and the UAE Corporate Tax law is set to take effect in June 2023. A raft of other evolving Middle Eastern tax regimes will raise the bar of complexity for our clients. Naishadh brings a depth of expertise on indirect tax and tax diagnostic matters that will be of significant value to our clients.”

Soneta joins FTI Consulting from WTS Dhruva Consultants, a specialist tax advisory firm. Prior to that, he worked with EY and PwC in India.

A qualified Chartered Accountant, Soneta has advised a range of multinational and domestic organisations on issues including Goods and Services Tax implementation and impact assessment, end-to-end VAT transition and implementation, indirect tax strategy and optimisation and tax diagnostic reviews and due diligence projects.

Soneta serves clients across multiple industries, with a focus on the real estate, oil and gas, education, retail, automotive, and healthcare sectors.

“FTI Consulting’s growth in the Middle East is impressive, and I am excited to be part of a team that is going from strength to strength, not only in the area of tax, but across multiple advisory disciplines in corporate finance and beyond.”

The Tax Advisory practice is part of the Corporate Finance & Restructuring division, which also provides offerings such as corporate finance, business strategy, transactions, restructuring, and turnaround. The division is one of the five main business groups of the listed professional services giant (global revenues: $3 billion).

Naishadh Soneta holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mumbai University in India.