KPMG appoints Chris Smith Director in Scottish tax team

Advisory and accounting giant KPMG has appointed Chris Smith as a Director in its tax team. The move comes as KPMG looks to boost its specialist offering in Scotland.

In his role as a Private Client Tax Director with KPMG, Chris Smith will lead a team of dedicated personal tax advisers, focusing on private wealth and shareholder tax advice – helping clients to grow and protect their wealth.

In the coming months, the practice will be working to help clients adapt to possible increases to capital gains tax, the introduction of a wealth tax and the increased movement of people, as the corporate world shifts away from the old ‘office-based’ culture, offering up new opportunities and issues for businesses across Scotland.

The Scottish wing of KPMG’s tax practice is headed by the recently appointed Vishal Chopra, who said of the news, “Looking ahead, there will continue to be challenges as our economy is rebuilt in part through changes to the tax system. Chris brings a wealth of experience and understanding of the issues facing private clients in Scotland, and together with his technical expertise and commercial outlook, he is ideally placed to help our clients navigate these turbulent times.”

With offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, KPMG has more than 700 professionals across it’s Scottish wing, providing specialist audit, tax and advisory services. In 2013, the Big Four firm opened a Tax Centre of Excellence in Glasgow, acting as a hub for all our other UK offices providing Corporate, International Executive and Private Client services.

Smith brings more than 11 years of experience to his new position, and joins KPMG from Grant Thornton. He was most recently an Associate Tax Director there, and holds a CTA from the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Reflecting on his new challenge, Smith said, “Over the next few months and years, personal tax advice is set to become more important than ever before. Political leaders throughout the world have signalled that reforms to capital taxes will form a key part of post-Covid recovery plans, which naturally will have an impact on many of our clients.”

“KPMG’s tax team has some of the industry’s best specialists, covering all aspects of the tax space. I’m looking forward to playing a key role in driving forward our own growth ambitions as well as helping our clients across Scotland as they navigate through a new post-pandemic world.”