Professionals

Aakriti is an Australian qualified lawyer who specializes in tax law. Having started her career in Australia, Aakriti moved to the GCC as value added tax was introduced in the UAE and has been involved in the introduction of VAT in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain.

Aakriti provides clear, practical guidance on how clients can effectively manage tax, focusing on achieving commercial objectives and ensuring tax compliance. In her time in the region, she has provided tax advice on complex MENA and global transactions, including advising on tax structuring, documentation reviews, transaction implementation and post-transaction integration. In addition, Aakriti has worked with a broad range of clients across various industry sectors including, F&B, Financial Services, Telecommunications, Education and Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Prior to joining Hourani & Partners Aakriti held posts at Herbert Smith Freehills, Deloitte, and EY Consulting.

• Tax
• Mergers & Acquisitions

Aakriti’s experience includes advising:

• Large GCC and MENA clients on structure set ups and efficient tax planning as part of transactions in various industries including F&B, Financial Services, Telecommunications and Education as well as assisting large national Sovereign Wealth Funds
• On the review of transaction documentation from a GCC tax perspective on determining the key tax risks associated with entering into the documentation such as conducting detailed contract reviews on share sale and purchase agreements, real estate
• On the completion of vendor and purchaser due diligences from a tax perspective across various industries
• Vendor clients to ensure appropriate post-diligence implementation work is conducted, including reviewing drafted warranties and indemnities in transaction documentation and drafting and submission of any disclosures required with the local Tax Authority
• On complex tax questions in the form of written advice to UAE clients in various industries including the Financial Services and Education industries

Education

• Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Australia
• Bachelor of Commerce – Accounting, Australian National University,  Australia

• LLB, Australian National University, Australia

Admissions

• New South Wales Supreme Court, Australia
• Dubai Legal Affairs Department, UAE

• English
• Hindi
• Urdu