This enlarges the definition of Europe - in fact, South Africa is not part of the continent at all, but it justifies its inclusion in the awards because of its rapidly developing tax policy and growth in firms offering international tax advice.
The awards will be presented for the seventh time on May 16 at the Dorchester Hotel in London. The closing date for entries is February 14.
They will go to the firms that demonstrate examples of client work of the highest quality in Europe between January 1 2011 and December 31 2011. The winners and runners-up will also be presented in the June 2012 issue of the magazine. The hyperlinked entry forms below are your chance to enter your firm for as many awards as you wish.
New award
Service providers other than lawyers and advisers will also receive recognition this year with the addition of another award. The organisation or individual that wins the European Tax Innovator of the Year will be the one whose product or process has done most to help taxpayers manage their affairs more efficiently. While targeted at tax technology companies, the category is open to all service providers.
Categories that were introduced for the first time last year - in-house tax team of the year for direct and indirect tax and tax policy firm of the year – will continue this year.
Awards will be presented to firms in these 27 jurisdictions or regions:
Austria, Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Belgium, Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia and Slovak Republic), Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK and Ukraine
This invitation letter further explains what awards your firm can enter for and how to do this.
Submissions
To decide the winners, International Tax Review’s team of journalists will undertake detailed research from a variety of sources. Submissions from firms are a vital part of this research. The magazine’s editorial staff will also consult a large number of tax advisers and lawyers, tax executives and in-house counsel to gain their perspective on the ground-breaking work that took place in Europe between January 1 2011 to December 31 2011 period.
Shortlists will be compiled based on the submissions and research, and the winners will be chosen after a poll of international tax executives. .
The awards will be judged according to:
Size (Not conclusive, though it does indicate what a tax team is capable of taking on)
Innovation (Did the solution the firm employed show something more than the straightforward answer that is commonly used?)
Complexity (Did the matter address tax issues that were out of the ordinary and what ingenuity did the firm show to solve them?)
The award categories and details of how to submit entries are listed in hyperlinked files below. Your firm is invited to make separate submissions for as many of these categories as you wish.
Entry forms
National Tax Firm of the YearNational Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
European Tax Disputes Firm of the YearEuropean Indirect Tax Firm of the YearEuropean In-house Team of the Year - Direct TaxEuropean In-House Team of the Year – Indirect TaxEuropean Court of Justice Firm of the Year - Direct TaxEuropean Court of Justice Firm of the Year - Indirect TaxEuropean Tax Policy Firm of the YearEuropean Capital Markets Tax Team of the YearEuropean M&A Tax Team of the YearEuropean Private Equity Tax Firm of the YearEuropean Media & Entertainment Tax Team of the YearEuropean Financial Services Tax Team of the YearEuropean Energy Tax Team of the YearEuropean Tax Innovator of the Year
Best Use of the InternetBest Newcomer
The shortlists for the European Tax Firm of the Year, European Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year and US Firm in Europe awards will be drawn from the entries for the national tax and transfer pricing awards.
Deadlines
Please send as many details as possible by Tuesday February 14 2012 to Ralph Cunningham, the managing editor of International Tax Review, at rcunningham@euromoneyplc.com.
