New tax hire partner by Azets in south
UK top 10 accountancy firm Azets has made a strategic new hire at partner level as business demand continues to grow.
Meera Rajah has been appointed as a VAT partner and head of South East Asia Business and will split her time between the firm’s London and Beaconsfield offices.
She has joined from a partner level role at James Cowper Kreston, where she also led the South East Asia Business team.
Her curriculum vitae includes stints at global firm Ryan, the Benefits Agency and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Meera’s key roles at Azets include driving new business across the firm’s South East region and handling inward business from South East Asia, where she has a vast array of contacts.
She said: “I am both pleased and humbled to have been appointed by such a progressive and forward-looking firm as Azets and am relishing this new challenge.
“I have built up an extensive technical knowledge over more than 29 years’ specialising in VAT, and I take a practical approach to my job.
“My 14 years’ experience at HMRC means I am able to call on a range of skills and expertise in inspections and negotiations which prove valuable to our clients.
“This has enabled me to successfully argue against HMRC to achieve substantial VAT savings and compensation for clients.
“I am keen to continue to use my first-hand experience of tax matters to ensure that Azets’ valued clients continue to receive the second-to-none advice and customer service for which the firm is renowned.
“I love the world of VAT, which means clients do not have to – and looking after this crucial aspect of business means they can get on with what they do best, running their companies.”
Meera’s key skills include business restructuring (mergers and acquisitions), VAT cost reduction strategies, international cross border supply chains, partial exemption methods, and land and property transactions, film production, charities and VAT planning.
Nick Parrett, regional managing director of Azets’ South region, said: “Meera is a hugely knowledgeable operator whose comprehensive experience of both sides of the UK tax system will undoubtedly benefit our clients.
“She has hit the ground running and is already a valued member of our team. We have high hopes that she will help to drive business growth right across the region.”
In her spare time Meera supports the charity Helping Hands for Underprivileged, which develops programmes and projects and co-ordinates funds to aid poverty-stricken children in rural India, as well as helping UK homeless charities.