Speakers

Matthew Zampa, Co-Founding Partner, has been specializing in VAT since 2008 and has been involved in VAT assignments both within and outside Malta. He is a member of the Malta Institute of Accountants and the Malta Institute of Taxation and is respectively a member of the MIA Tax Committee and MIT Indirect Tax Committee, apart from part-time lecturing on VAT at both institutions. Matthew is also the first Maltese to successfully complete the “Expert in EU VAT” degree which is administered and awarded by the VAT Forum, an international partnership of indirect tax specialists, established in Belgium.

A veteran of the VAT Department, Charles has vast experience in indirect taxation. He was involved at the VAT Department since the introduction of VAT in Malta in 1995 and has occupied important positions within the VAT Department including Director Legal and International Affairs. During his last years before retirement, he also served as Director General. Charles has represented the VAT Department in both local and international fora and regularly attended VAT Committee and Council Meetings. He has also participated in Fiscalis Program seminars and workshops, having also the distinction of chairing two such Fiscalis Program seminars held in Malta in 2008 and 2011 respectively. Following his retirement from the public service, Charles joined Zampa Debattista, helping to build a highly competent, experienced and proficient VAT team.

Brandon Gatt, a Certified Public Accountant in possession of an ACCA degree, has been in the profession for the past five years. He has been involved in VAT and accounting assignments both within and outside of Malta. Brandon has been specialising in VAT since 2016 and is currently leading the VAT Compliance division at Zampa Debattista. In a relatively short period, Brandon has acquired the necessary experience vital to handling an ever growing portfolio of diverse clients, operating within various sectors of the economy. Back in June 2017, he attended an intensive course in France, provided by VAT Forum; a partnership of International VAT experts, where he was provided with intensive training on the Articles of the EU VAT directive 2006/112/EC. Brandon also provides in-house training to established companies within and outside Malta, and is also a lecturer for the ‘Certificate in TAX Compliance’ being offered by the Malta Institute of Taxation. He is also a lecturer with ZD Academy and also lectures the ACCA Advanced Taxation (P6-VAT)

Christabel is an ACCA student who has been working at Zampa Debattista for the past three years and has been specialising in VAT for the past two years. She is in the final stages of her studies and is assisting in the development of the VAT Compliance Division of the firm.

John Debattista is a Certified Public Accountant and Registered Auditor. John is one of the founding partners at Zampa Debattista and heads the Audit and Assurance function and the firm’s IFRS Advisory Technical team. John lectured the Corporate modules at the final stages of the ACCA and ACA course for the ICAEW, Institute Chartered of Accountants for England and Wales. John is also a speaker in various audit and accounting seminars delivered by a number of institutes in Malta. He also lectured the Diploma in IFRS (DipIFR). John sits on a number of MIA committees namely, the audit, financial reporting and SMP committees.

Paul is a Certified Public Accountant specialising in international financial reporting standards and GAPSME. Paul graduated from the University of Malta after completing the Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) Degree in 2008. Paul commenced his career in audit and switched to accountancy in 2012. He spent most of his time in accountancy managing a portfolio of international clientele, before joining Zampa Debattista’s accounts department in 2017. After a few months, Paul decided to accept the internal opportunity to specialise in technical matters and increase his proficiency in reporting standards. Paul is currently involved in technical accounting and advisory assignments, whilst training and assisting internal staff and external people on IFRS technical matters.

Kris is a Certified Public Accountant and Registered Auditor specialising in assurance services and international financial reporting standards. Kris graduated from the University of Malta after completing the Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) Degree. Following four years as an audit senior at a medium-sized audit and accountancy firm, Kris joined Zampa Debattista, a boutique accounting and assurance firm primarily focused on international business, managing the audit function. Throughout his work experience he was exposed to assurance assignments on wealth management, pension funds, gaming companies, shipping, manufacturing and retail. Kris also read for the Diploma in International Financial Reporting and is a lecturer of Corporate Reporting at the advance stages of the ACCA course.

Janice is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 10 years experience in Audit and Assurance. She graduated from the University of Malta after completing the Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) Degree in 2002. She worked for eleven years with one of the big four audit firms, starting from the post of Assurance Junior up to the rank of Assurance Manager. She also worked for four years with a medium sized audit and accounting firm. She joined Zampa Debattista in 2018 in the post of Assurance Supervisor. Janice has worked on various assurance engagements, both locally and abroad. She gained exposure in various sectors ranging from the manufacturing to the services industries. She also has experience in planning and assigning work for the Audit & Assurance section and training of new audit staff. She has delivered various internal seminars.

Josianne is a Chartered Accountant and holds a master’s degree in Business Administration.
She currently holds the position of Senior Manager of the Tax and Corporate Department within Zampa Debattista.
Starting her career within the Tax and Legal Department at a Big 4 company, she then joined an international firm as Partner responsible for an international portfolio of clients. Later on, she was appointed as Executive Director leading the corporate compliance department at a local corporate service provider.
Josianne is a fellow member of The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Malta Institute of Accounts.

Markita is a Certified Public Accountant specialised in direct taxation and corporate services. Before joining Zampa Debattista, Markita worked with a medium sized audit firm for just over a year and with Deloitte for more than 6 years.
She is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and has been specialising in direct taxation since 2015. She has vast experience in corporate tax compliance, setting up of companies in Malta and domestic and international tax advisory matters. Markita is a member of the Malta Institute of Accountants and in 2017 she also became a member of the Malta Institute of Taxation after successfully obtaining Professional Certificate in Taxation.

Luke is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and has been specialising in direct taxation since 2018. He has experience in tax compliance for individuals and corporate entities both having a local and international base. Before joining Zampa Debattista, Luke worked with a big-4 firm for just under 2 years. Luke is a member of the MIA and is currently reading an Advanced Diploma in International Taxation.

Pauline Micallef is an ACCA Qualified Accountant and acquired her MBA from the University of Reading – Henley Business School. Her main experience is from the industry and the business, where she spent over 10 years within the pharmaceutical industry working for the largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world. She also worked at the Malta Institute of Accountants as the Technical Strategy Manager and currently holds the position of a Financial Controller within the Maritime Industry.