CTA or ATT

I am an FCCA, want to set up my own tax advisory business

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Is it best to go for the ATT or CTA. I would like to set up my own practice but be able to give tax advice as a specialism. Always been interested in Tax. Qualified in1992 but have kept my knowledge in tax as upto date as I can using ACCA Advanced tax material via BPP training material

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By David Heaton
20th Oct 2019 16:43

My personal view is that the clue is in the name. ATT is about tax technicians, CTA is about tax advisors. ATT can be a stepping stone to CTA, but the CTA requires much more knowledge, and accordingly gives you a better basis for specialist tax advisory work. As far as marketing your practice is concerned, the realistic view is that most potential clients won't know the difference between ATT and CTA, they're just letters after your name. As far as feeling happy that you can give detailed and specialist advice is concerned, you ought to go for CTA.

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By Navneet
20th Oct 2019 18:48

Thank you for that clear advice, much appreciated.

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By Richard Grant
20th Oct 2019 18:48

I passed my ACCA years ago and have done ATT to get myself current with tax. With hindsight I should have gone straight to CTA, the subjects are the same but the syllabus is obviously greater depth.
If you are going to be doing SA returns and Corp tax for small Ltd companies ATT will get you through but if you want to build a practice specialising in tax then it has to be CTA.

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By Navneet
20th Oct 2019 21:23

Thanks for that insight , I’ll bear your points in mind.

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By Homeworker
28th Oct 2019 10:27

I am ex-Revenue and started my exams before ATT and CIOT became separate organisations. I did not go ahead with the final exams but having passed the first stages I was granted membership of ATT when it was formed.
I have had my own tax practice for 23 years and have never found the lack of full qualification to be a barrier to having a full and satisfying client base. Admittedly I don't deal with large corporations or get involved with sophisticated schemes but it is possible to keep up to date with tax developments and do more than just routine compliance without being a CTA member.

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By mnv100
28th Oct 2019 11:25

Hi

You can do both under the joint scheme See the link below.

https://www.att.org.uk/our-qualifications/tax-pathway

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By Nisus
13th Nov 2019 09:01

I did not know how much I didn't know about tax until I studied for the CTA exams.

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By Nisus
13th Nov 2019 09:01

I did not know how much I didn't know about tax until I studied for the CTA exams.

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