NMI Executive Team

ANITA GUPTA  BA, FCIP, CRM
President and CEO

Anita Gupta is the president of NMI and is responsible for the growth, strategic decision making, and the marketing of new clients. Anita has been integral in building a team of professionals to ensure the highest standards of practice. Her uncompromising integrity, fairness, business acumen, and client confidentiality and satisfaction has strengthened and enhanced the firms profile in the commodity tax field. She is active in various community, business, and political organizations. In 2010, Anita was chosen by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce as the Female Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2009 she was a finalist for the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award. Since 2003, she has been appointed by Lt. Governor Bartleman as a Board Member of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. Anita has been the past president of Eiproc-a South Asian Professional Organization and has served on the board of many non-profit organizations. Presently, Anita serves on the boards of Sunnybrook Foundation and the Empire Club of Canada. Her 30 years’ experience in the business and corporate sector has provided her with extensive knowledge of corporate governance.



DEBORAH TAYLOR  CPA, CA
Executive Vice-President

Deborah advises NMI on specific tax issues and provides marketing strategies, global client servicing advice and leadership. Deborah also provides assistance with government audits, due diligence reviews, and financial statement audits of tax accounts. Deborah is a Chartered Accountant, and has successfully completed the University of Toronto’s Rotman Director Education Program. She is a recent retired Partner of the Indirect Tax Services for KPMG LLP in Canada. Deborah served as a lead indirect tax partner on many of KPMG’s largest public and private clients, including Royal Bank of Canada, CIBC, BP, the Hudson Bay Company and Ford Canada. Deborah became a member of KPMG’s Global VAT Network, and subsequently was asked to become a member of the Global VAT Steering Committee and Board, which was charged with the responsibility of developing global products, marketing strategies and global client servicing.



ALI HIRJI  BBA
Senior Vice-President

Ali has spent the last twenty five years in the field of Commodity Taxes. He commenced his career in commodity taxes with one of the BIG 8 Public Accounting firms. Later on he headed the Tax Department of a major multinational before joining the NMI team and becoming a key player. He has a wealth of experience with a variety of clients and has successfully fought issues all the way to the Federal Court of Appeal and obtained landmark decisions for NMI clients. He has been successful where others have given up. He has identified issues at clients after other consultants have washed off their hands and his work with has generated substantial savings. In the past he has lectured at the CICA seminars. Ali is responsible for the overall marketing and client relations. Ali is currently chair of Social Services Network, a United Way York Region member agency.



AJAY GUPTA  B.Sc. MBA
Senior Vice-President

Ajay spent several years with the Federal & Provincial Sales Tax departments in various capacities including legislation, audit, tax advisory and rulings, before joining the NMI team. Ajay's specialty is tax interpretation and his technical skills have allowed the NMI team to successfully identify issues, both at existing clients and for potential new clients. Ajay works closely with our professional consultants and provides arguments and case analysis, which have benefited NMI's clients. Ajay is instrumental in developing issues that have won landmark decisions at the Federal Court level. Ajay is responsible for providing all technical training to both NMI staff and client staff. He leads the NMI Tax Seminar Program that is offered exclusively to NMI clients.



PRAIM RAI  CGA
Partner

Praim is a Partner and is responsible for managing the company’s affairs and executing growth strategy. Praim has over 25 years of senior management experience in the finance department of some of the largest financial companies in the world. Prior to his current role, he was Senior Vice-President Corporate Tax for Great West Life, Canada Life and London Life. As an experienced leader, he is well known for his commitment to service excellence, innovation and building strong relationships with customers and advisors. Praim is a founding member and first President of the South Asian Heritage Council.



ARJUN GUPTA  B.Sc J.D.
Vice-President

Arjun earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University, an Ivy League school in the United States, and subsequently spent a year in the middle office at CIBC before going to law school to earn his juris doctorate. During the summers throughout his education he dedicated his time towards the success of NMI by working on tax research, reviewing and analyzing tax cases that were relevant to Canadian and American industries, and providing assistance and support to the technical team with respect to tax issues, tax rulings, and tax law interpretations.



GERRY LEE  CGA
Executive Director

Gerry Lee is an Executive Director at NMI. He has more than 25 years’ experience in senior management positions within the Life Property and Casualty insurance industry as well as consulting in insurance business analytics. Gerry’s most recent role as a Vice President at Aviva, Finance Projects and Business Information Services, had him responsible for Business Intelligence and he held that role since 2000. Gerry has practical experience with financial and business analytics. His strong knowledge in business, IT and project management skills has allowed him to successfully deliver large initiatives meeting business objectives. Gerry is currently responsible for overseeing NMI's clients for tax rebates initiatives and ensuring that these companies are maximizing their commodity tax rebates. Gerry is a Certified General Accountant.



ALNOOR DEVJI  BBA
Vice-President Business Development

Alnoor is a globally experienced Sales Management Executive with an entrepreneurial style building strong customer relationships. He is a strategic thinker, recognized for his strong leadership and has the vision to create, implement and execute long and short term sales strategies. Before joining NMI, Alnoor was the Managing Director, Sales for FedEx Canada. He was with FedEx for 17+ years having managed all levels of the sales organization and was a key contributor for the growth and success of the organization. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from Simon Fraser University in BC. As Vice-President Business Development at NMI, Alnoor is responsible for all aspects of the management and direction of sales functions including the overall customer go-to-market strategy for the business.



PANKAJ PURI  BA,CA
Vice-President Advisory

Pankaj joined NMI as a member of its Tax Advisory Board. As a board member, Pankaj advises NMI on internal control matters, audit, and strategic partnership development within the financial industry. Pankaj has significant experience in accounting and auditing at the very senior executive level with CIBC, TD Bank, Old Mutual US Holdings and Coopers and Lybrand. He is currently President of Independent Internal Audit Services Inc. He has a proven record of accomplishment in accounting, financial management, internal audit, privacy, and governance. Pankaj is currently on the board of the Canadian Employment Insurance Financing Board (a Crown Corporation) and Helping Hands International. He has also served on the board of the United Way of Greater Toronto and the Greater Toronto Regional Council of the Canadian Red Cross. Mr. Puri is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of England & Wales and has a B.A. Honors in Economics from Leeds University, England.



NOORJAHAN PIRANI  B.A., MES, LL.M.
Vice-President Regulatory Affairs

Noorjahan is responsible for managing all aspects of tax research and rulings and ensures that all review objectives are met, and staff and clients are kept fully informed on new regulations and implications affecting judicial decisions. Her focus is to identify and leverage key strategic needs of our clients, and tailor solutions to meet these needs. With over twenty years of legal background and development experience, she brings and in-depth knowledge and understanding of the demands facing professionals in all organizations.



KEITH MILLS
Senior Property Tax Consultant

Keith is the senior manager of the Property Tax department and is responsible for all property tax and assessment appeals. Keith has over thirty years’ experience in the property tax field having knowledge of property tax assessments for multi-million dollar commercial, industrial and multi-residential property owners. Keith brings his knowledge and experience from the Assessment Review Board and Ontario Municipal Board to NMI Clients.



Al TITUS  BAS
Senior Property Tax Consultant

Al is responsible for technical interpretation and analysis of property tax assessments. Al has over 30 years’ experience in the property tax field. His knowledge and experience from the Assessment Review Board and Ontario Municipal Board has helped many NMI clients reduce their property tax assessments.



GARY FARB  BA, LLB
Legal Counsel

Gary is general litigation counsel at Clark, Farb & Fiksel. Gary is also a mediator for Kennedy & Farb. Gary is general legal counsel for NMI and provides advice and corporate governance to NMI . Gary lectures in communications for Professional Development Centre of Osgoode Hall Law School and Ryerson College. Gary is former contributing editor to Butterworths Educational and Professional Publishers.