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

How to participate in the 2026 research

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

There are three steps to the submission process:

• Download forms from our RESOURCES page
• Upload the research form(s) and client information to our ONLINE PORTAL

PLEASE NOTE: We cannot accept client referees or submission forms by email as it contravenes our GDPR policy.

All submissions must be submitted via the above links.

ITR Awards

• All firms submitting for ITR World Tax are automatically considered for their national Tax Firm of the Year, Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year, Disputes Firm of the Year and Indirect Tax Firm of the Year, if their submission contains information regarding that practice area and if it is covered in their jurisdiction.
• For more information about which awards are available for which country, and for all information regarding the specialist and regional awards, please CLICK HERE.

Research Webinar

Our 2026 research webinars will take place on 3 December, 2024 and 7 January, 2025. You can register to attend HERE (Part 1) and HERE (Part 2).

World Tax Head of Research, Jon Moore will discuss key dates, new developments, best practices, and more for this year's research cycle, and also how to amplify your firm's submission and benefit from a live Q&A in Part 1. APAC Senior Researcher Charlie Wong will conduct the Q&A for Part 2.

SIGN UP FOR PART 1

SIGN UP FOR PART 2

Research timeline

If you need an extension to the submission deadline, please contact the Head of Research, Jon Moore ([email protected]).

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 submission form.

MOST FIRMS SHOULD ONLY SUBMIT ONE FORM FOR 'TAX'.

YOU WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR ALL RELEVANT PRACTICE AREAS INCLUDED ON THAT FORM.

PLEASE DO NOT UPLOAD THE SAME FORM IN MULTIPLE PRACTICE AREAS. IF EVERYTHING IS ONE FORM IT SHOULD BE SUBMITTED ONCE, FOR 'TAX'.

Additional practice area submissions are for additional submission forms only. This should be for firms that have different teams covering different practice areas. For example, several firms will have a Tax team and a separate Transfer Pricing team. They should submit one Tax submission and one Transfer Pricing submission.

WHERE THERE ARE MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS FOR THE SAME PRACTICE AREA, RESEARCHERS WILL ALWAYS TREAT THE MOST RECENT ONE AS THE CORRECT ONE AND DISREGARD THE OTHERS.

For example, if a firm uploads a Tax submission, but then wishes to make a change and resubmit it, the latest submission will be uploaded as Tax (1), Tax (2), etc. We will always treat the most recent submission as the correct one. 

If you wish to submit more than 15 matters for consideration then all additional submissions must be broken down by practice area. We do not accept multiple submissions for the same practice area.

• Include up to 15 highlight deals per form. In the 2026 cycle, highlighted deals should be matters on which the firm has done substantial work since January 1, 2024, or which closed after that date.
• Unlimited number of client referees accepted.
  • All provided referees will be contacted by e-mail to ask for feedback on companies’ and individual practitioners' work.

United States Regional

• Tax submissions should be state based.
• We can accept 'United States' submissions where offices in multiple states were involved in work, but ideally you should submit the same form in each jurisdiction in which it is relevant (e.g. if your submission contains matters covered by partners in Chicago and LA then it should be submitted for California and Illinois). This helps the researchers do not miss any relevant matters.
• Transfer Pricing submissions are the only ones that should always be submitted for United States.

Brazil Regional

• Most firms should submit for the 'Brazil' category in 'Latin America and the Caribbean'.
• Brazil regional submissions are for matters that are covered primarily or exclusively by partners and/or practitioners working in the state.
• Firms can submit for 'Brazil' and for as many states as they choose, but the state submissions should only contain matters exclusively or most completed in that state.

Client survey

• You can submit as many client contacts as you wish
• We will contact all those individuals provided to us by email initially
• They are invited to complete an online feedback survey
• We are happy for clients to complete the survey not in English, but the survey itself is in English.
• Those who supply referees will be contacted a week before we contact 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 or TP professionals encouraged to submit
• Can highlight their own work
• We also ask for recommendations for other firms and individuals they have worked with

PRACTITIONER SURVEY LAUNCHED APRIL 2025

Ranking Criteria

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

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

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

Leaders

For more information, see our Leaders page.