Moving from ATT to CTA
CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME
Completing the ATT is a fantastic achievement and you should be very
proud.
You now hold a prestigious tax qualification that involved some challenging
exams. If you have not yet become a member see here for details of the
benefits membership brings.
I’ve worked so
hard is that not
enough???
I thought you might say that!
Remember, the ATT is an
excellent qualification in its own
right.
But have you heard of the CTA?
Yes I have, but it’s
hard isn’t it?
Of course it’s hard!
As a member of the CIOT you will be alongside the top tax professionals
so you want it to be hard don’t you?
Do you want people to say you are a good tax adviser because it’s
easy or because you have achieved something special?
Is the CTA different from the
ATT or is there just more to
learn?
The CTA syllabus is a bit wider, but at the end of the day ‘tax is tax’ and
all the knowledge you have from the ATT will form the building blocks
for your CTA studies.
The difference is in the expectations of the questions.
See here for an ATT question on property tested in November 2012
See here for a CTA question on property tested in November 2013
ATT Sample Question
CTA Sample Question
CTA Sample Question
You can now see that the difference is in the approach:
The ATT question is geared to compliance – these are the rules and this is how
you work those rules.
The CTA question is advisory – you will be expected to spot for yourself the
area being tested and apply principles to novel situations. The scenario given
by a client is never the same as the text book so you need to be prepared for
that.
BUT tax is tax and the ‘rules’ are the same.
Is there much more
study time involved?
Everyone is different and because the exams are modular you control the
pace of your studies, but where you were recommended to study for at
least 12 months for the ATT, the recommendation is 12 to 18 months for
the CTA.
I love numbers, if these
are advisory exams will
it all be writing?
There will be more writing in a CTA exam than an ATT exam because you
are giving advice, but there will still be calculations to do. Sometimes the
best way to explain something is with the numbers.
What if I
fail?
You will be disappointed of course and no-one likes to retake.
But you won’t have lost all the knowledge you have gained along the
way.
The question you should be asking is…
What if I pass?
The CTA qualification is widely recognised as the ‘gold
standard’ of tax qualifications and CIOT members are
highly respected.
ATT + CTA = ELITE TAX PROFESSIONAL