Welcome to the World Tax and World TP research process, the comprehensive guides to the world’s leading tax and transfer pricing practitioners. This document should provide you with all the information you need to take part in our annual research cycle, but if you have any further questions you may contact the editor:

Jonathan Moore: jmoore@euromoneyplc.com

Produced in association with the International Tax Review, our research provides rankings and profiles of the most effective tax and TP practitioners in the world, covering more than 60 jurisdictions located on every continent. Tax is a multi-faceted enterprise covering a range of disciplines. Our rankings seek to reflect this by having law firms, consultancies and advisory groups all included in the mix. We also look to split our rankings into multiple tables, where appropriate, to recognise the varied expertise of different practices within each market.

If you would like more information on the research process, we will also be producing a webinar about the research process that you can attend live or watch on demand after it has been completed.

The webinar takes place on February 14, 2019 - REGISTER HERE TO TAKE PART

Research process

If you work for a tax practitioner that advises on matters covered by any of the categories below, you can participate in the research by completing a research form.

  • Alternative dispute resolution
  • Customs
  • General corporate tax
  • Indirect tax
  • Private client
  • Real estate tax
  • Tax controversy
  • Transactional tax
  • Transfer pricing

Companies can submit one research form for each practice area category in its country, one for World Tax and World TP, or just one form for both. Which you choose depends on how your practice is structured. For those companies that have distinct departments dealing with different areas it may make more sense to complete multiple forms, for those with more integrated teams it may be that one form is more relevant.

The form asks for basic information on the structure and focus of your practice, recent changes to the team, and up to 20 highlight deals per practice area. In the 2020 research cycle, highlight deals should be matters on which the firm has done substantial work since January 1, 2018, or which closed after that date.

Firms can provide an unlimited number of client referees in support of submissions. All referees provided by the submission deadline will be contacted by e-mail to ask for feedback on companies’ and individual practitioners' work.

How to participate in the research

There is no fee to participate in the research, or to be ranked.

There are three steps to the submission process:

PLEASE NOTE: We can no longer accept client referees or submission forms by email as it contravenes our GDPR policy. All submissions must be submitted via the above links.

Completing the research form

From a ranking perspective, the most important section of the submission is Practical evidence. The reason for this is experience on complex matters is a key factor we use in determining our rankings.

We provide qualitative not quantitative rankings so matters should focus more on complex or innovative work, rather than a long matters.

Always give a clear explanation of your role on matters listed and provide details as to why they are considered significant.

Please provide us with as much information about matters as possible. The more information we have, the better the assessment we will be able to make of the firm. We will not disclose any information marked confidential, but please ensure all confidential information is highlighted in RED. Any information not highlighted in RED will be considered public and may be used by researchers in editorial coverage in both the guides and online.

Client survey

The process for collecting client feedback is designed to be as simple and straightforward as possible. We will contact all those individuals provided to us through the CLIENT SUBMISSION PORTAL by email. They will be invited to complete a simple online survey, asking them to provide feedback on their experience working with your practitioners. If they would prefer, they can arrange a short interview with the researcher instead. Please ask your clients to get in touch with the researcher if that is their preference.

We will contact the individual listed in the submission approximately a week before we send out the client survey, in case you wish to let your clients know to expect an email from the researcher ahead of time to encourage participation.

Clients providing detailed, explanatory feedback is the simplest way to have an impact on the rankings. Those who have experience of the wider market – domestically or internationally – and are able to explain why they choose to work with your practitioners over others in the market are especially useful to the research. This constitutes the most important pillar in the process is the best way to affect your ranking. As such, we encourage those submitting to vet client referees before sending their contact details, to ensure they are both willing and able to provide the kind of effective feedback we are looking for in the research.

Practitioner survey

All senior tax and transfer pricing practitioners are invited to participate in the peer feedback survey. This allows individuals to highlight their own recent work, to make a case for their inclusion as a leader in their field. This is perhaps the best way for an individual that feels they should be recognised to emphasise it to the research team. We therefore would encourage as many of your senior personnel as possible to complete this survey, when they have the chance.

We also ask them for their recommendations for other firms and individuals they have worked with, whether domestically or internationally. As frontline practitioners they have the best view of those doing the most impressive work – especially more junior staff whose importance in the work may otherwise not have been noticed by clients. We therefore highly value the input of practitioners in the research and would encourage as many as possible to take part.

COMPLETE THE PRACTITIONER SURVEY

If you have any questions please contact the editor, Jon Moore (jmoore@euromoneyplc.com).

Ranking criteria

The guides are produced using our three foundational pillars of research:

  • Practical evidence is gathered by our researchers from practices all over the world. We collect, collate and scrutinise the work of practitioners – both public and private – to gain a detailed understanding of their methods and capabilities.
  • Peer feedback is secured from the leading names in their respective fields, through surveys and direct interviews with partners, directors and managers, to get the market’s perspective on the rankings.
  • Client feedback, the most important pillar, is sourced from those with direct practical experience of their markets; those who can give a first-hand review of the skills and abilities of those they worked with.

Our research teams combine these three sources – along with independent research – to produce the finished World Tax and World TP guides.

As part of the research we also produce several Leaders guides throughout the year that recognise the expertise and quality of individual practitioners. These are published in individual guides and online with our detailed practitioner profiles. The process for determining which individuals to include in these follows the same process.

When you submit you should try and provide referees for all the individual practitioners you feel should be included in these guides. A practitioner working on significant matters who receives a reasonable amount of good client feedback is more likely to be included.

Leaders

Alongside our firm rankings we also recognise the work of outstanding individuals through the publication of the following Leaders guides:

  • Indirect Tax Leaders
  • Tax Controversy Leaders
  • Women in Tax Leaders

We are also introducing new guides to recognise practitioners in the following categories:

  • General Corporate Tax Leaders
  • Transfer Pricing Leaders

The guides are compiled as part of the World Tax and World TP process, using the same three pillars of research. As such, there is no need for firms to nominate individuals as all those eligible are automatically taken into consideration.

Leaders are currently ranked in one of two categories:

Highly Regarded

Practitioners who are highly regarded by their peers and the wider market and who possess a strong track record in dealing with significant matters.

Rising Star

Ones to watch, these are practitioners at the early stages of their career whose work has already stood out to peers and clients and who are recognised as potential market leaders of the future.

Coverage

The ranking tables we produce vary by country, depending on the volume and type of work generally seen in each individual market.

However, as we look to expand and grow our coverage we are keen to receive submissions from a wider range of practitioners, to ensure we reflect each market as accurately as possible and recognise leading firms in as many jurisdictions as possible. To that end – in addition to the jurisdictions and practice areas we currently cover – we would welcome submissions from the following:

Practice areas

In addition to general taxation and TP tables, we are also keen to hear from specialists whose work covers any of the categories listed below that are not yet included in their jurisdiction.

  • Alternative dispute resolution
  • Customs
  • Indirect tax
  • Private client
  • Real estate tax
  • Tax controversy
  • Transactional tax

We are also keen to expand our coverage beyond the current jurisdictions we cover. If your firm has a practice in a jurisdiction we do not currently cover we would welcome a submission from that office detailing its recent work. While we may not be able to create a new ranking table without more input from other firms, all firms that submit for the research process are guaranteed editorial coverage.

Jurisdictions

In addition to national chapters, we would also be interested in receiving submissions relating to work in the following territories:

If you are interested in participating in this year's research and have not registered your interest, please do so HERE. 

  • Anguilla
  • Aruba
  • Bermuda
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Cayman Islands
  • Cook Islands
  • Channel Islands
  • Gibraltar
  • Isle of Man
  • Labuan
  • Montserrat

Research timeline

Research launched: January 28 2019

Research webinar: February 14 2019

Submission deadline: March 29 2019

Indirect Tax Leaders published: July 5 2019

Tax Controversy Leaders published: August 30 2019

Women in Tax Leaders published: October 4 2019

World Tax published: October 4 2019

World TP published: October 4 2019

If you need an extension to the submission deadline, please contact the editor, Jon Moore (jmoore@euromoneyplc.com).

Why participate?

Actively engaging with our research team ensures:

  • Editorial coverage in the guide(s)*
  • Accurate and in-depth representation of your recent activities
  • Potential market endorsement in a well-established, highly regarded independent guide.
  • Exposure to our wide audience of tax professionals based in leading corporations around the world.

*Our editorial policy dictates that all firms that participate in the research and provide relevant examples of transactional work are guaranteed editorial coverage.