Dubai, UAE · Advisor, builder & founder

Clarity when the stakes are high.

Tax
AI & automation
CFO advisory

Specialist inTransfer pricing&Arbitration

I’m Wahaj Siddiqui. I work across tax, AI and automation, and CFO advisory, with a specialist focus on transfer pricing and arbitration. I bring the perspective of someone who has worked inside the business, as well as advised it. Everything I’ve built rests on relationships, and the trust that keeps them.

Discuss a matter See the cases

Personal recordNow boarding

AUHAbu Dhabi · born

DXBDubai · based

Passenger: Wahaj Siddiqui
Priority: TP · Arbitration
Since: 2018 · Oblique
Experience: 18+ years

Previous flights

KPMG2005 · Audit Associate
Etihad Airways2009 · Accountant
Al Hilal Bank2013 · Senior Officer
Emirates2015 · Finance Manager, indirect taxes
Oblique Consult2018 · Founder & MD

Focus

The issue comes first. The numbers follow.

Two specialisms, transfer pricing and arbitration, backed by tax, AI and CFO advisory. Each starts with understanding the business behind it.

01Priority

Transfer pricing

Looking beyond the transaction price to the commercial context, the parties involved and the evidence supporting a position. Policies and documentation built to hold up when the authority asks.

Discuss transfer pricing

02Priority

Arbitration & disputes

The financial questions at the centre of a disputed matter, and the records, assumptions and analysis behind them, through to arbitration where it is needed.

Discuss a dispute

03Gate

Tax

Corporate tax and VAT across the UAE and KSA, connected to the business decision behind them.

Discuss a tax matter

04Gate

AI & automation

Agents and automation for finance teams, with people approving the work. Built first for Oblique’s own team.

Discuss automation

05Gate

CFO advisory

Finance functions designed from the ground up, with the controls and reporting that let a business decide with confidence.

Discuss CFO advisory

Case notes

From the problem to the outcome.

Four journeys: a group restructuring, a treaty arbitration, a tax reporting overhaul, and the systems behind finance.

Case 01 · GCCTransfer pricing

RestructurePolicy

A GCC group, restructured around one intercompany policy.

Context: A group with entities across the GCC, restructuring how those entities work together.
Approach: Reviewed the group’s transfer pricing against how the business actually runs, restructured the GCC entities, and set an intercompany policy with the documentation behind it.
Result: One intercompany policy across the region, with positions documented to hold up when the authorities ask.

Case 02 · Saudi ArabiaArbitration

DeniedWon

A treaty refund, denied and then won.

Context: A UAE free zone entity had its refund claim under the UAE–KSA double tax treaty denied, on the grounds of its free zone status.
Approach: We took it to arbitration in KSA: building the treaty case, and coordinating with the legal teams involved and with finance teams on both sides of the border.
Result: Won. The refund claim under the treaty was upheld.

Case 03 · EmiratesTax

20 days9 days

A shorter VAT reporting cycle.

Context: The UAE’s first taxes, inside a global airline’s group financial reporting.
Role: Finance Manager, indirect taxes; finance lead on the VAT project.
Result: Reporting cut from 20 business days to 9. Data reports arrived two weeks early, so pricing could be revised sooner.

Case 04 · ObliqueAgentic

ManualAgents

A tax team that runs on agents.

Context: Oblique’s own tax and accounting team, with too many hours going into preparation and review.
Approach: Built Oblique OS: agents prepare the work and show their evidence, and none records an action without a confirmed system record. People approve.
Result: 37–42% fewer preparation and review hours, moved into judgement: more clients per professional and faster turnaround. The same approach, built for other teams, is Hysaab.

Full itinerary · résumé

From LinkedIn

Résumé: roles and education
Education
Feb 2018 – now	Oblique ConsultFounder & Managing Director · Dubai	Grew the firm from the UAE into KSA, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. 100+ tax audits in the UAE and KSA, with zero penalties.	Current
Aug 2023 – now	SimplaCo-founder · Strategy & investor relations	Close to 1,000 users within months of launch, with zero marketing spend.	Current
Dec 2015 – Feb 2018	EmiratesFinance Manager · Indirect taxes, group financial reporting	Finance lead on the VAT project as the UAE introduced its first taxes. Reporting cut from 20 business days to 9; network tax collection fully automated.	Departed
Jan 2013 – Dec 2015	Al Hilal BankSenior Officer · Abu Dhabi	Designed an automated risk-assessment model on GARP principles, which became the bank’s risk baseline tool.	Departed
May 2009 – Jul 2011	Etihad AirwaysAccountant, financial reports · Abu Dhabi	Automated the inter-station receivable and payable entry process, saving thousands of working hours.	Departed
Oct 2005 – Sep 2008	KPMGAudit Associate · Abu Dhabi	Audits for banks and listed entities. Built tools that cut the manual work in credit reviews; promoted every year.	Departed
2011 – 2012	Murdoch UniversityMBA
2004 – 2008	ACCAPart qualified
2013 – 2015	Certified Internal AuditorPart qualified

Wahaj Siddiqui presenting at Oblique Consult

The person

Relationships first. Trust compounds.

I started Oblique to be the first phone call: the one you make when something has gone wrong and you’re not yet sure what to do. The clients who stayed did so because of how we behaved when things were hard, not when they were easy.

Nobody builds anything alone. Every chapter of my work rests on mentors, family, friends, and clients who became part of the team.

Read my story

“When COVID hit and we had to pause, he told us the scope would not change, only the timelines, and that he would still deliver. He did. Every business of ours has been advised by him ever since, and only ever will be.”

A client, through COVID and since

With thanks.

The full thank-you, in my story

Closest to home: My father · My mother · Nabeel · Anam · Yousuf
Mentors & friends: Buland Iqbal · Muhammad Nabeel · Manzoor Qureshi · Qazim Sumar · Farrukh Khan · Anoop Kumar · Hisham Farouk · Haider · Shahid · Matthew · Badr Ward · and countless others
My brothers: Danial Hashmi · Adeel Hashmi · Jamal Hashmi · Saad Zafar