We have reluctantly decided that the 2021 Taxation Awards, due to take place on 13 May, cannot go ahead. Although we hope that by then many of the current lockdown restrictions will have been removed it seems highly unlikely that large gatherings of people will be permitted. We have looked closely at the possibility of holding a live event later in the year, but with all of the current uncertainties we don’t have sufficient confidence that we would be able to host such an event or that firms would be ready to book tables. There will therefore be no live event this year.

Last year when we cancelled the awards because of the lock down all of the entries had been received and the judging taken place before the pandemic stuck. It was therefore relatively straightforward to move the announcement of the results online. We can’t do the same this year as it is unreasonable to expect firms to spend time on preparing entries when there is so much for them to do to support clients. Equally we don’t feel that we can ask a panel of distinguished tax practitioners to give up their valuable time in judging entries.

We won’t therefore be running an equivalent on-line event this year. But we do want, particularly in this 21st anniversary year, to mark the achievements of outstanding individuals, so we will be announcing 3 individual winners in the following categories:

• Taxation’s rising star
• Outstanding contribution to tax in 2020-21
• Lifetime achievement
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This has not been an easy decision, but we believe that we have achieved the right balance between maintaining the continuity of the awards and keeping everybody safe. 

Andrew Hubbard
Chair of Judging Panel Taxation Awards