Welcome to the ITR Awards, World Tax and World TP research process. This document should provide you with an overview of the methodology we use for the research process.

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:

• Download our research form and the client referee template
• Upload the research form(s) and client information to our ONLINE PORTAL

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.

Webinar

If you would like more information on the research process, we have produced a webinar about the research process that you can attend live or watch on demand after they have been completed. It is focused on what is best practice for firms completing submissions if they want to improve their rankings. There is also a video second that will goes into specific details about how to complete the submission forms and what information is required.

World Tax 2024 - Your questions answered can be accessed HERE.

World Tax 2024 - Completing your submission can be accessed HERE.

Research timeline

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

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.

Companies can submit research forms covering Tax (all non-TP or controversy matters), Transfer pricing and Controversy, litigation and disputes, one for World Tax and World TP, or just one form for all practice areas.

The form asks for basic information on the structure and focus of your practice, recent changes to the team, and up to 15 highlight deals per practice area. In the 2023 cycle, highlighted deals should be matters on which the firm has done substantial work since January 1, 2022, 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.

Completing the research form

To complete the form, please follow the instructions detailed within it. This information should fully explain what should be contained in each section.

Qualitative, not quantitative

• Because our research is qualitative, not quantitative, we are not looking for a full list of work done by firms. Rankings are determined by the type and quality of work being done, not the amount. That is why we only want the highlights
• Cases chosen for inclusion should only be so because they represent the most impressive standard of work currently being completed by a firm.
• A submission with just two or three landmark cases included is of more value from a ranking perspective than one with 15 relatively-vanilla ones.

More ≠ Better

• We limit the number of cases per submission primarily to ensure they remain digestible for the researchers, so we do not receive unwieldy submissions that are 50+ pages long.
• But given we welcome multiple submissions from firms if they feel that better represents their practice, some see this as an opportunity to simply submit more cases. So, instead of one submission with 15 they can submit two and include 30, or even six and include 90 different cases, in the hope this will improve their submission.
• In reality, the opposite is almost always true.
• Because a firm submits more cases, that does not mean it will be given more consideration. Researchers will allot roughly the same amount of time to go through each firm's submission in a jurisdiction. So if a firm submits two forms including 15 cases on each, this doesn't mean the researcher will spend twice as much time going through its work, it means they will spend half as much time looking through each case.
• Allowing firms to make multiple submissions is a way to allow them to submit in a way that best reflects their work. So if they have a speciality in a particular field, or the structure of the practice is such that there is a clear divide between, e.g. the tax and TP practice, with different practitioners operating in each and neither advising on matters outside their own field, then the multiple submissions allow for firms to highlight this.

Please provide us with as much information about matters as possible. 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 by email initially.

They will be invited to complete a simple online survey, asking them to provide feedback on their experience working with your practitioners.

We will contact the individual who submitted the client information approximately a week before we send out the client survey, to let you know we will be contacting your clients.

This is 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

Ranking Criteria

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

• 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.
• 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.

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

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 as Leaders in their respective fields.

The individuals are selected as part of the World Tax process, using the same three pillars of research:

• Client feedback
• Practical evidence
• Peer feedback

There is no need for firms to nominate individuals as all those eligible are automatically taken into consideration. From a candidate’s perspective, the only thing you need to do is ensure your work is clearly highlighted in the firm submissions or detailed in the PRACTITIONER SURVEY and that you have client referees willing to provide positive and detailed feedback on your work.