Samuel is a Legal Director in the tax practice at DLA Piper Africa, IKM Advocates. He advises clients in various sectors on a broad range of tax issues. He also represents clients in tax disputes before the Tax Appeals Tribunal and superior courts.
Samuel is ranked by the International Tax Review, World Tax as a Rising Star in Tax Practice in Kenya.
Tax disputes
- Acted for a banking sector group of companies on resolution of several disputes for the group companies and was part of the team negotiating for a favourable settlement.
- Acted for ABSA Bank Kenya PLC in disputes at the Tax Appeals Tribunal and High Court on taxation of payments arising from card transactions.
- Acted for Mastermind Tobacco Kenya Limited in a customs tax dispute before the Tax Appeals Tribunal and the High Court.
- Acted for a telecommunications company in disputes before the Tax Appeals Tribunal and part of the team negotiating for a favourable settlement for the Company.
- Acted for Baker Hughes in tax disputes before the High Court.
- Acted for Rosslyn Academy in tax disputes before the Tax Appeals Tribunal and the High Court.
Tax advice
- Advised various international investors on the tax implications of setting up in Kenya and the optimal entities for their operations in Kenya.
- Advised Mi Vida Homes on structuring and setting up of a development fund and the tax considerations of setting up a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in Kenya.
- Advised a power generating foreign company on the considerations of repatriation tax.
- Advised an international NGO on the tax implications arising from a proposed restructure.
- Advised a logistics company on resolution of a tax dispute through the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) set out in the double tax agreement.
- Advised various charitable institutions and entities with privileges on exemption from income tax in Kenya.
Professional Qualifications
- Advocate of the High Court
- Certified Public Accountant CPA (K)
- Qualified Certified Secretary
Education
- University of Nairobi, Master of Laws (LL.M)
- Kenya School of Law, Diploma in Law (2019)
- University of Nairobi, Bachelor of Laws (2016)
Prior Experience
- May 2026 to date, Legal Director, DLA Piper Africa, Kenya (IKM Advocates)
- April 2022 to April 2026, Senior Associate, DLA Piper Africa, Kenya (IKM Advocates)
- October 2019 to April 2022, Associate, DLA Piper Africa, Kenya (IKM Advocates)
- January 2019 to September 2019, Pupil, DLA Piper Africa, Kenya (IKM Advocates)
- September 2016 to January 2019, Tax Associate, Tax Advisory firm
The Income Tax Act (Charitable Organisations and Donations Exemptions) Rules, 2024, (the “Rules”) were gazetted on 18 June 2024.
On 31 July 2024, the Court of Appeal rendered its judgement in Civil Appeal No. E003 of 2023 (as consolidated with Civil Appeal Nos. E016, E021, E049 and E064 and E080 of 2024) (“the Appeal”) in relation to the constitutionality of the Finance Act 2023 (“the Act”).
Changes in business ownership will usually take one of two forms; one could sell the shares in a company together with its underlying assets and liabilities or simply sell the underlying assets and liabilities of the company. There are many commercial and legal reasons that inform why a potential investor would opt to purchase the shares of a company instead of the underlying the assets and liabilities of the company or vice-versa. One of the reasons could be the tax impact each option would have.