Ferdie is the National Head of Tax at BDO South Africa, charged to lead and grow the National Tax Practice. Ferdie is a Member of the BDO National Executive Committee and coordinator of the BDO Sub-Saharan Africa Tax Practices. Ferdie is an experienced tax expert with deep specialisation in Taxation, VAT, Fiscal Economics, and Tax modelling and holds various qualifications, including a Masters degree in Economics (with distinction), a Masters degree in Taxation, and is a Master Tax Practitioner registered with the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners (SAIT) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
Ferdie previously held positions at SARS; National Treasury; the Tax Advisory Committee to the Minister; the Katz Commission; and the VAT Committee on Financial Services (as part of the Katz Commission). He was also a Tax Partner at Deloitte South Africa; a member of the Deloitte Global Indirect Tax Committee; a Tax Partner at KPMG South Africa; a Member of the KPMG Global Indirect Tax Committee, which included attending various international Committee meetings; Co-chair (with SARS) of the VAT Credit Retail focus group on VAT attribution and VAT apportionment; a Team member mandated by the Insurance Industry to settle the highest Rand value technical VAT dispute in South African VAT history; and gave input into various required tax legislative changes.
Ferdie co-authored the KPMG Managing VAT Handbook, edited the Practical VAT Handbook(Fleet Street Publications); and wrote the VAT Practical Guide (Lexis Nexis). Ferdie also writes for the Business Day Business, Tax & Law Review, and has a monthly Tax Technical Column. Ferdie writes various tax technical articles for South African and international publications, including COVER Magazine, and the International Tax Review. Ferdie has often done radio interviews and panel discussions, including Classic FM; Voice of the Cape; and Radio Sonder Grense (RSG). Ferdie has also participated in various television interviews and panel discussions, including CNBC Africa (including the Bruce Whitfield Show); Robinson Regstreeks; and Africa News Network 7 (ANN7). Ferdie also lectures at Honours and Masters degree levels on tax technical issues; presents at client seminars on various tax technical issues; and has developed and presented a complete suite of Tax Training Modules for clients, ranging from basics, intermediate, to difficult, on the various tax disciplines.
Ferdie consults to various multi-national companies in operation or planning to settle in South Africa and has successfully represented a number of clients in Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADRs) and Settlements against SARS.
