ATT to CTA - how much of a step up?

ATT to CTA - how much of a step up?

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Having just got my exam results from May last night (passed ATT personal tax, woohoo, 2 down 2 to go) I was wondering - how much of a jump is there from ATT to CTA? This is for the far future but I'm just curious.

There is a noticeable step between AAT levels 3 and 4, and a big jump again up to ATT. How big is the step up to CTA from there?

Thanks.

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By Jimess
20th Jul 2011 10:02

CTA

Congratulations on passing ATT.  A fantastic achievement.  You will have put in some serious hard work to pass your ATT and if you apply similar diligence to the CTA you should do OK.  CTA is certainly more intensive but in the long term you will appreciate the grounding that the CTA gives you in structuring your career.  Best of luck for the future.

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Quack
By Constantly Confused
20th Jul 2011 10:10

My understanding

I'm ATT and looking at the CTA too.  My understanding is that while the ATT was 'questions on personal tax on the personal tax paper', the CTA is more like 'you're doing the personal tax paper, so it will be slightly more PT than anything else, but it will be heavy on CT, VAT etc... too'.

 

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By thisistibi
20th Jul 2011 10:41

Done both

Personally, I did the ATT straight out of University and found it child's play so long as you pay attention.  More like a GCSE or something compared to the degree I'd just done.  CTA was a bit more serious.  I'd say that ATT gives you a good grounding on especially the personal tax aspects, but CTA is much more fully encompassing of different taxes and the interaction of taxes.  I would say that ATT is about 15% of the way to achieving the knowledge required for CTA.

Having said that, even if you never finish the CTA - which in all liklihood you will - then what you'll learn along the way will be invaluable.

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By DazedByTheLight
20th Jul 2011 11:15

*

Congratulations!

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By Monsoon
20th Jul 2011 11:31

Thanks all. I've edited my post - I've not completed ATT yet (sigh) but have my final 2 exams in November - fingers crossed! Very happy to have passed Paper 1 though, I left the exam thinking it was borderline - I just don't have enough time to dedicate to study with my business as well, but am doing what I can!

It would be nice to have a chartered qualification and as I'm not going to sell my practice and get a job (hahahahahahaha no way) to do ACCA or ICAEW, and I can't stand management accounts, then CIoT is the only other option really. Tax is 'my thing' anyway, on the technical side I prefer it to accountancy.

It's a way off yet, I can see it being something I would do in 5 or 10 years time. My confidence and technical knowledge, along with my business, has grown immensely in the past year alone; 5 years ago I never would have dreamed I would be where I am now, so in 5-10 years from now I think doing my CTA is definitely achievable. Just not yet.

Now need to get my head down and pass the final 2 exams. I believe the technical term for the Ethics paper is 'minging.' ;-)

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FT
By FirstTab
20th Jul 2011 11:43

monsoon

Well done on passing your exam.

I would be interested to know which paper you did,hours of study and will use it in work.

Did you just go through manual an then sit the exam or did you attend classes?

 

 

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By asking
20th Jul 2011 12:14

Well done

Congratulations on passing ATT.

I too have passed ATT although that was some time ago - i have previously tried CTA and there is a huge difference between the two, You will pass with hard work but the standard at CTA level is much much higher.

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By D Has
20th Jul 2011 12:16

Minging!

Well done, Monsoon.

And spot on about Paper 7 - Admin & Ethics. It took me 3 attempts to pass it.

I'm also thinking of going on to CTA, as someone said above - even if you don't complete it, the knowledge gained would be invaluable.

 

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By Monsoon
20th Jul 2011 12:30

D Has & FirstTab

D Has, thanks, that doesn't inspire me with confidence on the Ethics paper! I shall give it my best shot. What about it was hard? I know it's one of those that sounds like it ought to be easy but I've looked at the past papers and they look hideous.

FirstTab:

I would be interested to know which paper you did,hours of study and will use it in work.

Paper 1 Personal Tax. No idea on hours, yes definitely use it in work

Did you just go through manual an then sit the exam or did you attend classes?

Bought the TQT study text from BPP and worked through it myself from that. This time round I'm taking the VAT and the Ethics paper in November so I have bought the passcards as well, as I think they will help.

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By tom123
20th Jul 2011 12:40

The same question in reverse

Funnily enough I am considering the same question but in reverse - having managed to fail the CTA exams again :(

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By Monsoon
20th Jul 2011 12:53

Reverse

Sorry to hear that Tom - if you don't already have ATT, what other qualifications have you got? ACCA/ACA?

From what I have heard, ATT exams are more in depth than the tax modules in the chartered accountancy qualifications but, not being chartered, can't verify that from personal experience!

If you haven't got any of those, I'd definitely be looking to do ATT before CTA.

The questions in the CTA exam papers (I looked!) do seem to look similar to ATT but are obviously more complicated/ in depth. If you've already studied CTA then I think ATT is definitely manageable. Good luck!

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By DazedByTheLight
20th Jul 2011 13:06

Ethics Paper Update

You may be interested in this!

www.att.org.uk/students/ATT+Exams+From+2012

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By Monsoon
20th Jul 2011 13:18

Thanks Dazed

Thanks, yeah that's one reason I'm trying to sit 2 papers in November, I don't fancy doing a whole e-assessment on Law!!

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By D Has
20th Jul 2011 14:01

Paper 7 - Difficult

As the link to the ATT's update said, I found it very "dry" as it is a lot of writing and explanation, rather than dealing with figures.

I think part of the problem was that I under-estimated the amount of work it took to memorise the key phrases etc. I eventually passed because I wrote out all of the PRPG booklets. That was the only way it really sank in.

 

 

 

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By Anne Fairpo
20th Jul 2011 21:06

Congratulations

 Well done on the passes and good luck with the rest of them!  There is a definite step up from ATT to CTA, the focus of the exams is rather different, with the emphasis much more on advisory aspects rather than the compliance aspects (although that is still there), and more detailed knowledge of tax law. 

Let if you want more information; besides the day job, I'm also chair of the education committee for the CIOT.

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By Monsoon
05th Nov 2011 13:25

Update
3/4 of the way there now! I sat my VAT exam last week and it was pretty straightforward, so I'm confident I passed. I wimped out on paper 7 and deferred, so I'm braving the new e-assessments next year instead.

I'm still on the CTA tip. I looked at the VAT Awareness paper and, with ATT VAT fresh in my mind, think it looked quite straight forward. Based on that, I'm sure the two awareness papers will be fine, but the Advisory and Application papers do indeed look very hard, but not impossible. The style of answers they are looking for will take a while to get used to, amongst other things. I've set myself a goal that I will be CTA by the age of 40. That gives me just over 8 years, which I think is achievable... Just need to get those e-assessments out of the way with now!

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