Having qualified as an ACA a year and a half ago. I have always been in accounts and statutory audit, only dealing pretty basic tax planning, as we had a tax department.
So we're thinking of getting me into some tax training sometime next year.
Has anyone had experience of the ATT and if so how good was pricing etc?
Or are there alternative ways to be effectively trained in more complex tax (and wider taxes that I didn't deal with such as CGT etc)?
I qualified with ATT about 11 years ago, and I self taught. It was pretty comprehensive and I knew a few ACCA's who said it was tougher than their tax exams but I wouldn't know. I do think you are eligible to take CTA though, but they are tough!
I am aware of the CTA, but I have known tax specialists fail these exams, which is why I would look at ATT really to get a good grounding and then to be able to self-teach and keep knowledge up to scratch.
So you can self-teach ATT? How do you go about that, as I can't afford college and our business is too young to be able to support me training and keep it ticking over.
I am currently studying ATT through distance learning Tolley Training. I searched for the cheapest option for weeks and found that the distance learning programme with no extras from Tolley Training is the cheapest. You are provided with ring binders full of text for each paper with practice questions and each training manual that covers 1 paper is £217.50. You also have to buy a few extra law and accounting text books which are around £30 each a a tax handbook which I think is £60 for students. Included in the price are mock exam paper and you also have access to their website with att info etc. The people are Tolley are really helpful and get back to you with any questions you ask very quickly, they really go out of their way for you.
The reason I wanted to get the ATT qualification was so that along with bookkeeping I could also offer a tax return service and not just with the ICB diploma in self-assesment qualification as this does not go in to much detail. I want to know more than the ICB qualification is offering. I have only just started the first paper which has 2 parts, personal income tax and capital gains tax and it is really easy to use and there are practice questions at the end of each chapter.
So I would defenatly recommend Tolley Training for a distance learning course for ATT.
p.s. I would have no idea how you would self teach all the info for the ATT exams. If you are interested I have been sent an updated manual for the 1st exam 'personal income tax and capital gains tax, the only difference is a bit more info on the exams and more explained content list at the beginning of the file. I did advertise my previous study manual on here for sale and had lots of interest but nobody actually bough it from me, So I have the July 2010 edition for the 1st paper for sale. If you are interested in this or want to know more about it email me on raychelmc@hotmail.co.uk
