A transfer pricing economist, Matthew heads the transfer pricing practice at The Cragus Group and assists multinational clients with interests in or related to the Middle East & Africa. Whilst assisting them with practical and implementable transfer pricing solutions, he focuses on ensuring that these solutions fit with clients' business strategies and that they are capable of withstanding the dynamic changes all businesses encounter, particularly those that present themselves in this region
The low or no tax environment in much of the Middle East provides particular challenges for clients in terms of ensuring they are compliant with local tax regimes and those tax regimes in the countries with which they trade. The most significant issues have usually involved withholding taxes, sales taxes and customs duties. The imminent introduction of VAT in the GCC is perhaps client's most pressing short term tax concern. Matthew's experience in economic and tax consultancy enables him to advise clients on how to optimise their transfer pricing structure, taking into consideration these different taxes. This includes advice on organising a client's cost allocations, valuations, supply chain, intellectual property, financing, decision making and economics of contracts. Since much of the MEA region is rapidly growing, many of the commercial laws and regulations are having to evolve very quickly, some are often unclear or do not anticipate all the different ways business or investment are conducted. Matthew's experience and wide ranging knowledge allows him to deliver truly pragmatic advice to both inbound and outbound multinationals in this region.
He has over 25 years of experience, the last 16 of which have been as a specialist transfer pricing economist. On graduating from London Business School with an MBA, he joined a Big Four in London and trained in transfer pricing. He has held senior transfer pricing positions in both accounting and economic consultancy firms since.
His clients have covered the full array of industry sectors from online businesses, pharmaceuticals, to financial services, and manufacturing. They have included privately held small and medium sized firms to some of the largest multinational companies. He has successfully defended clients in many jurisdictions in Asia, Europe, and North America, and has also negotiated with various revenue authorities and advised on numerous Advance Pricing Agreements on behalf of clients.
He has spoken on transfer pricing issues at numerous conferences and seminars in Europe and the US, lectured on transfer pricing in Europe and taught statistics at a UK university. He is published in both the academic and business press, most recently co-authoring a publication 'The Impact of Taxation on Financial Services Firms: Business Location Decisions' commissioned by the City of London Corporation, and was the author of 'Transfer Pricing and Loan Guarantee Fees: A looming transfer pricing risk' for Tax Journal.
