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The comprehensive guide to the world's leading tax firms

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The demand for top-class international tax services around the world continues to be intense. It is just that two years ago it was a different kind of work to what taxpayers are hiring advisers to do now. And that has only become more apparent since September 2008 and the months after, when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and numerous other banks around the world had to be rescued. Suddenly, companies found it a lot more difficult to access finance to carry out their plans. If they had cash or had ways of generating it, then they had some hope. If they needed to borrow money, times became a lot tougher.

The relationship between advisers and clients has changed during this time. The lack of finance for corporate tax work has fed through to downward pressure on budgets for external advice. Many tax departments are doing more and more routine work themselves, only looking for help outside when none of the in-house team possess the right experience or skills or if they need some strategic, objective thinking on a particular matter. That, of course, helps the firms at the top of the market, particularly law firms, that do not compete for routine work, but have chosen to pitch their skills in areas that require a strategic view, such as finance or dispute resolution and litigation.

Is this trend in how clients use their advisers cyclical or the new model that will take over? That is the question that will only be answered in time.

The other trend of the past few years in tax practice – the increasing aggression of tax authorities – looks like it is here to stay. It was a development that was already well under way before the turmoil in global economies. This upheaval has only added to it. National governments need to raise revenues to pay for services, so officials are under orders to do everything they can to close the tax gap, or the difference between what revenue should be collected and what is being collected.

Officials are using the increased amount of transfer pricing regulations, to home in on corporations they believe are not paying what they should be. Such rules are getting more and more popular with tax authorities. The network of tax treaties around the world is increasing. Courts are handing down judgements that have implications and influence in more than one state.

In the rest of the world, tax authorities are picking up on best practice from other countries and working hard to create even-handed, respected tax systems. A wealth of issues, all moving at a different pace. That is why tax executives need the expert advice of tax advisers and lawyers to help them structure their businesses in a tax efficient manner and to ensure their views are presented properly to legislators and the tax authorities. The tax department of a multinational company can not hope to stay aware of the capability of tax advice in every jurisdiction their business is represented.

It is in this context that International Tax Review presents World Tax 2010, its comprehensive guide to the world's leading tax firms and tax advisers. We hope it will help tax executives to secure the best advice for their situation.

Methodology

International Tax Review researchers and journalists interviewed corporate tax directors and advisers by phone, e-mail and face-to-face to compile the tiers of leading firms and write the commentaries for 46 jurisdictions in World Tax 2010.

Each firm that was listed in last year's edition was given the opportunity to make a submission, along with the leading firms in the jurisdictions World Tax 2010 was researching for the first time

The corporate interviewees were chosen from a representative sample of clients of the leading firms in the market. One of the questions we asked was: "Who is your primary adviser?" We clearly could not know this in advance so the representative sample could only be constructed after the interviews were completed.

The objective of interviewing both practitioners and tax executives was to get an opinion of tax advisers from their peers and their clients. No recommendation from any adviser for their own firm or their colleagues in that firm was taken into account.

Firms could not pay to be included in the tiers or to have their individuals listed but were offered independently the opportunity to list their professional details for a fee. Tiers of leading firms from 46 countries or territories have been included.

Unique rankings

This year, once again, leading individuals are highlighted in the text about their firm in the market commentaries, rather than being listed separately by specialism.

At the top end of the rankings are the firms which have the greatest depth of resources, experience, and range of specialisms. They are considered the best teams overall for tax advice in the country concerned.

In cases where our research revealed it is difficult to distinguish between the quality of teams, such firms are grouped, in alphabetical order, in the same tier. The criteria for the rest of the tiers is published here.

As much as we would like it to be, this cannot be an entirely objective exercise. The ultimate criterion has to be quality of work so that is likely to be the reason why one firm, though modest in numbers, may be in a tier that, on the face of it, appears to be beyond it.

The important point to note about the rankings is that all the firms listed have well-regarded tax individuals in their advisory teams.

We hope you find World Tax 2010 to be a valuable tool in helping you identify the appropriate advisers in the jurisdictions covered.

Ralph Cunningham
Managing editor, International Tax Review