The Association of Taxation Technicians was established on 30 August 1989 under the sponsorship of the Institute of Taxation (now the Chartered Institute of Taxation). Its creation recognised the increasing demand for tax services and the need for a qualification appropriate to individuals working in taxation departments. Aimed at those employed in industry, commerce and the public sector, as well as professional practices, the first applications for membership were received in January 1990. Today the Association has over 10,500 members, affiliates and registered students.
If you satisfy the examination requirements for membership of the Association this will entitle you to a Confirmation of Eligibility to sit the Chartered Tax Adviser examination.
[+] The Qualification
For May 2012 onwards
The ATT offers six standalone “certificate” papers which are sat in May and November each year. To become a member of the ATT, candidates must sit and pass three certificate papers, two online e-assessments and have two years practical experience.
Two of these certificate papers must be the “core” papers (see below) with the remaining paper being chosen based on the candidate’s area of specialism.
These papers may be sat individually or all at once and for each paper passed the candidate is entitled to apply for a certificate of competency.
The six papers are as follows:
Paper 1 – Personal Taxation*
Paper 2 – Business Taxation & Accounting Principles*
Paper 3 – Business Compliance
Paper 4 – Corporate Taxation
Paper 5 – IHT, Trusts & Estates
Paper 6 – VAT
* Papers 1 and 2 are the core papers.
Each paper is 3 hours and 15 minutes in length (including 15 minutes of reading time.) The style of these papers is written and each paper is split into two parts:
Part I Containing a number of short form questions, each set for between 2 - 4 marks for a total of 40 marks.
Part II Containing between 3 and 6 longer style questions each set for between 10 - 20 marks for a total of 60 marks. The questions will be a mixture of computational and written style questions.
Each paper can also test elements of Law and Ethics.
[+] The e-Assessments
Candidates must also sit and pass, or be exempt from, the e-Assessments. There are two e-Assessments, one for Law and one for Ethics, and each is a one hour online examination which can be sat at any time during the year.
There is no deadline for having passed the e-Assessments, but in order to be eligible for ATT membership, a candidate must have passed the e-Assessments as well as Paper 1, Paper 2 and one of Papers 3 to 6.
The e-Assessments are a very different nature to the written tax papers 1-6, both in style of question and learning techniques required. Click on our guidance How to Tackle the e-Assessments for ATT for more information.
For further details of all of the papers and the exemptions available please visit www.att.org.uk
[+] Registration with the Association
Prospective candidates must be at least 16 years of age and register as a student with the Association by the end of October if sitting the May examination, and the end of April if sitting the November examination.
[+] Exam entry with the Association
Students must also apply to sit the examination (please note this is a separate and additional process to registering as a student). The deadlines for this are the end of February for the May examination and the end of August for the November examination.
You can enter for the e-Assessments at any time following the acceptance of your registration as a student.
[+] Permitted texts
You are allowed to take certain publications into the examination:
- Tolley’s Yellow Tax Handbooks and Tolley’s Orange Tax Handbook; or
- CCH Editions Ltd Tax Statutes and Statutory Instruments including the Index Volume; or
- HMSO copies of taxing statutes
Publications brought into the examination must be bound copies. They can be underlined, sidelined and highlighted. Annotating, use of “post its” and tagging is not allowed.
[+] Pass Mark
The pass mark for each paper is 50%.
The pass mark for the e-Assessments is 40 correct answers out of 60 questions.
[+] Results
The results will be released in January for the November examinations and July for the May examinations.
Results from the e-Assessments are given on the day the e-Assessment is attempted.
[+] More Information
For more details visit the Association’s website at www.att.org.uk or call them on 0844 251 0830.
