Which is the best qualification for your tax career – ADIT International Tax Affiliate or CTA Chartered Tax Adviser?
Are you trying to decide on the next step to develop your tax expertise? Not sure if you should study for the CTA qualification or choose ADIT to specialise in international tax? This article discusses the key points of each qualification to help you decide on your best option.
But you shouldn’t consider it as a CTA versus ADIT scenario – both are attractive qualifications which will benefit your tax career. The right choice for you is likely to be based on the stage of your career and where you want to go from here!
CTA – Chartered Tax Adviser
Originating with the UK’s Chartered Institute of Taxation, Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) is the leading qualification in professional tax expertise. It is internationally respected as a mark of technical excellence and professional integrity. Becoming a Chartered Tax Adviser requires an in-depth knowledge of tax legislation and its application to real life scenarios. A CTA can be relied upon to provide the highest quality tax advice to businesses and individuals.
The Chartered Tax Adviser qualification has increased in global recognition in recent years, with the CIOT licensing use of the CTA designations to the Irish Tax Institute, the Tax Institute in Australia and, more recently, the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong. CTAs are members of one of these highly respected professional bodies, which share a commitment to pursue efficient tax systems.
CTAs follow a code of practice requiring them to advise only in areas where they have the geographical and technical expertise. For example, a CTA advising on UK corporate taxes must have expert knowledge of the UK corporate tax system. Similarly, a CTA practising in Ireland, Australia or Hong Kong and advising on corporate taxes is required to have expert knowledge of the corporate tax system in the relevant jurisdiction.
Access to the CTA qualification is open to anyone and there is no requirement to have a prior qualification. However, the examinations are set at a high standard. To give yourself the best chance of success, if you don’t already have a previous qualification in accounting or law, the recommendation is to register for the Tax Pathway route to qualification. The Tax Pathway is a route to membership of both the Association of Taxation Technicians and the CIOT. It brings together the exceptional tax compliance knowledge delivered by the ATT qualification with the CTA, the mark of quality for tax professionals.
There are four parts to the CTA exams in the UK:
- Computer Based Exams – compulsory:
- Principles of Accounting
- Law
- Professional Responsibilities & Ethics
- Awareness – choose 3 of 5 modules (not to be the same as the corresponding Advanced Technical papers):
- Taxation of Individuals
- Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates
- Taxation of Unincorporated Businesses
- VAT including Stamp Taxes
- Corporation Tax
- Advanced Technical – choose 2 out of 7 papers (not to be the same as the corresponding Awareness modules):
- Taxation of Individuals
- Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates
- Taxation of Owner Managed Businesses
- Domestic Indirect Taxation
- Cross-Border Indirect Taxation
- Taxation of Major Corporates
- Human Capital Taxes
Note: the Advanced Technical papers are changing in 2021.
- Application and Professional Skills – choose 1 of 6 options:
- Taxation of Individuals
- Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates
- Taxation of Owner Managed Businesses
- VAT & Other Indirect Taxes
- Taxation of Larger Corporates & Groups
- Human Capital Taxes
As you can see, the CTA structure allows you to choose areas of tax specialism (e.g. owner-managed businesses, employment & global mobility, VAT) while ensuring that you have a good awareness of the wider tax system. Studying to become a Chartered Tax Adviser gives you the building blocks for a successful career in tax, including developing skills like understanding tax legislation and interpreting case law. Many roles in the tax profession list being a CTA as one of the essential criteria – showing its value in the market.
Studying for CTA requires a significant time commitment and can be difficult to achieve without your employer’s full support, both financially and granting study leave. The CTA papers are designed around a tax adviser in practice giving advice to external clients and you may find this a greater challenge if your background is in-house tax, which tends to be more hands-on and practical. If you already have the CTA or equivalent qualification in one jurisdiction you will have transferable skills & knowledge and, depending on the role you’re seeking, may not need to sit the CTA exams in another jurisdiction.
ADIT – International Tax Affiliate
ADIT offers an opportunity to go beyond your own country’s tax system and learn about how tax systems interact. In an increasingly global world, where even the smallest businesses can use technology to expand overseas, ADIT gives you a robust foundation in international tax to make you stand out from the crowd.
ADIT is a practical qualification – combining academic understanding with real life application. You may already be working in international tax, having learned ‘on the job’ – the ADIT qualification fills the gaps in your knowledge and identifies you as a true international tax specialist.
If your home jurisdiction doesn’t offer a tax qualification on a par with Chartered Tax Adviser, studying for ADIT and becoming an International Tax Affiliate of the UK Chartered Institute of Taxation is your chance to gain a globally recognised tax qualification. When you become an International Tax Affiliate, you demonstrate your commitment to upholding the highest professional standards, and highlight your technical expertise and dedication to your career.
ADIT offers a high degree of flexibility, allowing you to balance work & study commitments. The exams are modular, so you can take them in any order or all at the same sitting. You have plenty of time to complete the qualification, with at least 5 years to graduate. To graduate, you must pass the compulsory Principles of International Taxation paper plus two optional modules, or one optional module and an extended essay on the subject & jurisdiction of your choice. The only prerequisite to register as a student & take the exams is an email address!
The core module – Principles of International Taxation – gives you a solid foundation in international tax without focusing on any one jurisdiction. Its syllabus covers key issues such as principles of international tax law, residence, double taxation conventions and treaty interpretation, transfer pricing, the work of the OECD and international tax avoidance.
You have free choice over your selections for the other two modules. You may choose to focus on the thematic papers to further develop your understanding of international tax in specific areas. Or you may choose to learn more about international tax rules in a neighbouring jurisdiction, e.g. Ireland, and a common headquarters jurisdiction, like the US or UK. Or you can choose to mix a thematic & jurisdictional option – ADIT gives you the flexibility to design an international tax qualification that meets your needs.
The thematic options are:
- EU Direct Tax
- EU VAT
- Banking
- Upstream Oil & Gas
- Transfer Pricing
Which option you choose will be determined by your areas of interest and work experience. Transfer Pricing is becoming increasingly important across the world and remains a top priority for Multi-National Enterprises and Tax Authorities. The EU VAT option is of interest not only to VAT practitioners in the EU, but also those in other regions, like the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states where recently introduced VAT systems are based on the EU model.
The jurisdiction options are:
- Australia
- Brazil
- China
- Cyprus
- Hong Kong
- India
- Ireland
- Malta
- Singapore
- United Kingdom
- United States
Did you know that you can also obtain modular and standalone certificates from the CIOT?
ADIT students who successfully complete Principles of International Taxation and one optional module may apply for a modular certificate recognising their partial ADIT achievement. Students who pass either Principles of International Taxation or a thematic module can alternatively apply for standalone certification. The modular certificate is a great option to demonstrate your growing expertise as you work towards becoming an ADIT graduate. The standalone certificates are ideal if you are interested in gaining a qualification in one area of the ADIT syllabus, e.g. transfer pricing, or if you are already an ADIT graduate but wish to expand your international tax knowledge by studying further modules.
If you’d like to know more about the investment involved in achieving the ADIT international tax qualification, check out this article on the costs of studying ADIT.
At Extratax Training, we offer live online training courses for:
We’re always happy to answer questions about our online ADIT training courses and give you the benefit of our ADIT experience. Our tutors are dual-qualified CTA & ADIT so we can share our experience with you to help you decide on the best move for your tax career.
Email us at info@extrataxtraining.com or start a conversation with our founder, Catriona Loughran, on LinkedIn.
