The ATT !

crispy

Hi All,

I am an AAT / CIMA qualifed member who has been looking at improving my knowledge in Tax (there was very little in CIMA) and have recently signed as a stutent of the ATT (Taxation Technicians). I am looking to take Paper 2 exam for this November (Business Tax) - does anyone else have any experience / advice in taking this qualification ? I have to say I am a little nervous about studying and taking exams again but keen to expand my tax knowledge which i feel is inaduqaute and lacking for a qualified accountant. I do work in industry but would like to be able to give advice become more involved on any tax affairs on the company and for my own personal knowledge.

Many thanks for any feedback

MarieNoelle

There used to be a group on the forum for AAT members studying the ATT qualification - not sure if we can still post but here is a link to an old thread:

https://forums.aat.org.uk/Forum/group/1-aat-to-att

I did study the ATT qualification, it gives a really good and practical knowledge of tax - very useful in practice in my case.

Good luck with your studies.
And do not underestimate the Law and Ethics CBA - there is a lot of information to learn!

crispy

Hi MarieNoelle,

Many thanks for your reply. I have had a look at previous years exams papers and think that I may be more comfortable with Paper 2 to start. Paper 1 looks like it will take more effort as am unfamiliar with the content and may give myself maybe a year to study (I am no rush to complete, just keen to learn). Thanks for the heads up for Law and Ethics, I will also being going slowly with these and not put unneccesary pressure on myself. As you have said, what I liked about the syllabus is that it does looks very pratical.

Lets have a go and see what happens

reader

I have done personal tax, business compliance, and business tax, and passed all 3. All the exams were easy (assuming you put the effort in) and are very useful if you work in tax.

I just need to do ethics and law. However I am struggling to force myself to study these papers.These papers are not as interesting and there is a lot to learn.

douglasstroud

I still have nightmares about the Law and the Ethics books.
Luckily the actual exams were easier than the pain of having to endure reading the two books.

reader

When did

douglasstroud said:

I still have nightmares about the Law and the Ethics books.

Luckily the actual exams were easier than the pain of having to endure reading the two books.

When did you finish ATT?

Are you going to do CTA?

douglasstroud

Hi reader

Finished ATT last summer

Began CTA last year but failed the advisory OMB which was my own fault, I actually booked the November exam before I had even ordered the study material (self study) thinking it would not be much different from ATT but how wrong was I, when I actually got the study material I realised what a mistake this was and should have cancelled the exam but by then it was too late so just sat it anyway, glad I did though as it has made me think more about if CTA is the route I would like to take, which in all honesty it probably is not, written exams were never my best and that was basically all it was (6 questions and 3 hours of writing) so at the moment I am still debating whether to give it another shot in November or not.

reader

douglasstroud said:

Hi reader

Finished ATT last summer

Began CTA last year but failed the advisory OMB which was my own fault, I actually booked the November exam before I had even ordered the study material (self study) thinking it would not be much different from ATT but how wrong was I, when I actually got the study material I realised what a mistake this was and should have cancelled the exam but by then it was too late so just sat it anyway, glad I did though as it has made me think more about if CTA is the route I would like to take, which in all honesty it probably is not, written exams were never my best and that was basically all it was (6 questions and 3 hours of writing) so at the moment I am still debating whether to give it another shot in November or not.

What would you like to do instead of CTA?

How long did it take you to study ethics and law?

I really need to force myself to study ethics and law.

MarieNoelle

reader said:

I really need to force myself to study ethics and law.

They are dry subjects- you really need to retain the smallest details for law - ethics requires a good knowledge of the PCRT but there is also an element of common sense and your experience in practice should help too.

The best way to go about it is to allow a 6 weeks period of intense revising - and lots of practice of multiple choice questions. There used to be a mock test on the CIOT/ATT website - only do it when you feel ready and see how you score.

Good luck!

crispy

Hi,
Interestiing reading from the above I think I also will leave Law & Ethics as the last papers and was considering taking Business compliance as the optional paper. Have registered with Tolley training and am slowly making my way through the first file and lectures - seems ok so far and have learnt quite a bit from the course. Am still slightly nervous about November so bring my books into work to question practice at lunch times, hats off to anyone who has completed the CTA course - too much for me !

reader

crispy said:

Hi,
Interestiing reading from the above I think I also will leave Law & Ethics as the last papers and was considering taking Business compliance as the optional paper. Have registered with Tolley training and am slowly making my way through the first file and lectures - seems ok so far and have learnt quite a bit from the course. Am still slightly nervous about November so bring my books into work to question practice at lunch times, hats off to anyone who has completed the CTA course - too much for me !

I believe I got a distinction for business compliance (I think I scored 75%). It is probably one of the easiest papers especially if you work in practice. I just memorized the tolley notes inside out and did loads of question practice as well. I only did 1 exam at a time.

douglasstroud

Hi reader
'what would you like to do instead of CTA'

Not sure really, I might do a course in Payroll as this is certainly one area (of many) where my knowledge is lacking also might consider going back to ATT and taking the optional paper in IHT as this is another area that I am interested in learning more about.
Agree with MarieNoelle about the CBA, in the end that's what I did I forced myself to read the books and revise for a solid month leading up to the exam so it was all still fresh and took the mock exams twice on the ATT site, some of the questions in the mock actually came up in the exam so some easy marks to be had there, its just a case of booking the exam and then force yourself to study, don't forget that if you are going on to CTA you can carry these over so you should not have to do them again, I think they last for 5 years.

Hi crispy

Good luck with the Business Tax paper, that was the first ATT paper I took and I still remember the shock I got when the study material turned up, I had just finished AAT level 4 and expected something similar in just the 1 text book and then all of a sudden I had 6 big folders of study material turn up as well as the tax legislation books which I couldn't even lift, I took the ethics CBA just before I did my VAT optional paper which I did after the 2 compulsory papers, I then left the Law as the last thing to do before passing ATT.

Good luck with the whole course it is a great qualification and one which I would definitely recommend for anyone who wants to work in tax, the AAT does offer Personal Tax and Business Tax but these are not covered in any way as much detail as what the ATT does.

crispy

Hi Douglas,

Many thanks for your positive message. My current job is actually in industry however I thought that after completing AAT & CIMA my tax knowledge was very lacking for a 'qualified accountant'. On searching the web the ATT seemed a good option and the syllabus looked very pratical. I am not involved in preparing personal tax returns - but I think the knowledge will be useful - I am involved in processing payroll / P11D's / Corp Tax and VAT so should be able to apply some of the theory and who knows for the future. On receiving my tolley kit, I have 3 workbooks and a bunch of online material (lectures / mock exams etc.) - I think I am about half way through book 1 - seems steady so far although have had to go through a few of the chapters a number of times and make silly / careless mistakes on the bigger practice questions.

As you have said, I remember doing Business Tax at AAT however there is great deal more depth with this qualifcation. I also have those legilation books - I was just expecting a 'handbook' not an encyclopedia ! - still looks impressive on my bookshelf.

reader

ATT is an excellent qualification (tax equivalent of AAT). It is very practical and useful. I would be very surprised if you regret doing it.