Exam failure, help!

kiradolman · February 2020

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on here. I have just found out that I have failed P tax, I got 64%. This is the first time I've failed an AAT exam, so a bit of a shock to me as I thought the exam went okay. I've just sat Business tax and am now convinced that I must have failed that one too. My synoptic is booked for 3 weeks time, so I am planning to focus on that for the time being.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to how I can get this exam passed? I put so much time and effort into revision, as I always do, so am not sure how I've got it so wrong!

kiradolman · February 2020

Here is the assessment report.

Pian32 · February 2020

Hi kiradolman there is no report attached.

The tax modules are very mathematics and structure based. You need to make sure you show all the steps in the questions. e.g when doing divideneds

2000 @ 0% = 0

You also have to look carefully at wording. Is the amount given the gross amount or the taxable amount? I made mistakes previously when I would mix up which I had and then incorrectly apply the personal allowance.

The other bits of wording can apply to benefits in kind or inheritence. I messed up a practice question where the was money gifted for a wedding anniversary. My head saw wedding and ignored anniversary...

I might be able to think of other easy mistakes after seeing the report.

kiradolman · February 2020

Here it is. Hope that helps! Thanks

kiradolman · February 2020

Ishrat · March 2020

Hello Kira, I have done personal tax paper. From my experience I actually found this exam one of the easiest compare to others along side auditing. I am not sure if I was lucky but my exam paper was similar to practice assessment from AAT website, just get used to of the layout it'll help you alot. Just keep practicing the exam questions and you'll be fine. I quite enjoyed this unit.

Pian32 · March 2020

Okay sorry for the slow response I've been away and had problems getting on the site before that.

It looks like you want to go over the rules for car benefits. The key part here is keeping an eye on the emissions value and applying the rules according to the emissions. This should help for 2+3

I suspect the property questions it will have been for time the property wasn't intended to be rented. (E.g letting a friend use the house for part of the year, none of the costs are claimable as there was no intention to let during this time.) The best advice I can give here is to treat each house/flat separately when working our costs and only combine them for the final answer. This will mean it's easier to spot errors and means if you make a mistake you should get marks for the workings.

Capital gains it seems you understand mostly but struggle with the exemptions and losses sections this would have to be learnt.

DNBK · April 2020

I failed my Personal Tax exam for the first time before Christmas and just got my re-sit result which I failed again this means that I will have to re-take it for the 3rd time. This is my first unit of Level 4. I feel very disappointed and frustrated. I revised using Karplan (resources used in class) and Osborne at home. I completed activities in the books and AAT green light and passed.

I was supposed to sit my first business tax exam last week but was cancelled due to Covid-19 situation. Don’t know what I could do differently to improve and pass my Personal Tax and hopefully when I get to take my first my business tax exam, that too.

I already feel like giving up and failing my first unit twice has dampened my motivation.

Ishrat · April 2020

@DNBK I am sorry to hear you finding this unit difficult. I suggest practise the exam papers as much possible which will definitely help. I know it is a huge jump from level 3 to 4 and not a nice feeling to be stuck on first unit.With the tax units the disadvantage is, the rules change every year so you have to keep up to date knowledge.
Don't feel demotivated. You will get through.

KoopaCooper · April 2020

Very sorry to hear you've failed PTAX, but if I may throw out my own story...

I breezed through levels 1-3, started level 4 at almost the same time that I was hired to work in a practice.

The moment I sat my PTAX exam, I wasn't entirely sure I'd passed it. Turned out, I hadn't. I also failed my BTAX module a few months later. This did shake my confidence, but I proceeded to pass the remaining three (compulsory) modules over the next 6 or 7 months.

Only after I'd completed the compulsory modules did I sit down and start revising for PTAX and BTAX again. I sat both of them, one week apart, at my college and 6 weeks later I found I'd failed again. Determined to get it done, I sat them again and passed! I finished my ICAS project about 6 months after that, and was MAAT a few months later.

Failing an exam is NOT the end of the world - it's just a sign that you maybe need to do a bit more.

I've since failed my ACCA Audit exam and resat that and passed it too (admittedly, the pass was a scrape-through, but it still counts! ^^).

Just keep going, and you can get there! ^^

Exam failure, help!

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