CTA vs ACA/CPA vs BCL/LLB For Tax Consultancy

T

trajan

Registered User
Messages
295
I was looking at the CTA curriculum and mentally comparing it with that of a typical accounting or law course.
To my mind, it seems a bit thin when you think of all the tax law learned by accountants and by law students doing commercial law specialisms.

Before anyone says "Ah but a good share of the CTAs already *are* accountants or solicitors/barristers!" let me say yes - but not all of them. I see people from technical/science/non-commercial backgrounds who don't want to work in those fields and who get some kind of articleship with an accounting or law firm and then become their "resident tax expert" . . .

But I am wondering if the CTA qualification - alone - really allows them to claim such expertise. Surely an ACA or tax lawyer would have a more thorough knowledge of the tax situation in all but the more straightforward situations ?
 
Blackrock1 said:
I don't think passing exams would make anyone an expert to be honest, experience is what will determine that regardless of what designation they have.
Click to expand...
A mate of mine did the tax exams while working in another industry. Once he qualified, he went looking for a job and was only offered the most junior roles, along with the salary to match. It didn't matter that he was qualified, he had no experience in tax, whereas people who worked in the field had 3 years on him. He had a mortgage and kids at this point, so he didn't make the move.
 
Tax advice is an odd niche. As a young solicitor ( many years ago) I was well on my way through the Tax Institute. I realized that I was being wheeled out to give a "Tax Blessing" to transactions, but that my older partners could not bring themselves to charge for this service. Nowadays, on those occasions where I identify some useful tax mitigation steps that can be taken, I refer out the client to a tax adviser. About 95% of the time, I will already have identified a solution. Clients will gladly pay me for spotting an opportunity (as they see it) and getting an expert on the job. If I didn't get a "Tax Expert" to give a formal tax blessing, they would not be happy to pay for anything. This can feel manipulative, but making the client feel happy about their choices is part of the job ( and a second opinion is always of value) and making them happy to pay is part of the business.
 
Last edited:
@Blackrock1 & @Steven Barrett

I take that point but I thought accountants on this forum (there seems to be a good few) might be able to comment on the substantive question of how the CTA curriculum

https://taxinstitute.ie/wp-content/...rse-Information-and-Regulations-2021-2022.pdf (page6)

compares with that of ACA/CPA or BCL courses vis-à-vis in-depth knowledge of tax law and its interpretation.

Perhaps I should say that my perspective is of a member of the public wanting to get the best tax advice - I am not thinking of going into this field of work myself or anything like that.

@MOB

What you are doing by farming tax advice out to the tax expert is not client psychology. It is just wisely refraining from committing to advising on a matter that is not core to your area of expertise. This way you cannot later be held liable for not mentioning tax implications of an arrangement, any consequences of non-optimal advice to your client nor have him disgruntled at you.
 
Last edited:
It's a subjective view but many financial questions are ultimately tax questions.

Personally I find investment kind of straightforward but tax problems can be very tricky. For example if I buy an ETF the fees are easy to calculate and the value may fall or rise, etc, etc, but when and how much tax to pay in deemed disposal or on exit tax is not at all simple and would trip me up.

Otherwise a huge amount of audit training is useful for understanding how a business is run but not really relevant if you want to give tax advice. The CTA curriculum seems to cover the basics of accounting certainly to the extent that is necessary to understand the tax implications of different business models. And a lot of tax advice is not for businesses but for individuals (succession planning, wealth management, etc) where you have a relatively simple set of finances compared to the accounts of a large entreprise that an auditor would typically encounter.

Disclaimer: I have no audit, tax, or legal qualification.
 
trajan said:
@Blackrock1 & @Steven Barrett

I take that point but I thought accountants on this forum (there seems to be a good few) might be able to comment on the substantive question of how the CTA curriculum

https://taxinstitute.ie/wp-content/...rse-Information-and-Regulations-2021-2022.pdf (page6)

compares with that of ACA/CPA or BCL courses vis-à-vis in-depth knowledge of tax law and its interpretation.

Perhaps I should say that my perspective is of a member of the public wanting to get the best tax advice - I am not thinking of going into this field of work myself or anything like that.

@MOB

What you are doing by farming tax advice out to the tax expert is not client psychology. It is just wisely refraining from committing to advising on a matter that is not core to your area of expertise. This way you cannot later be held liable for not mentioning tax implications of an arrangement, any consequences of non-optimal advice to your client nor have him disgruntled at you.
Click to expand...
I'm an accountant but in my last few roles I have hired in a head of tax as you need dedicated expertise, one was aca and cta dual qualified and one was cta only, there wasn't a discernable difference, the point is that qualifications won't really tell you who can give you the best tax advice, track record and experience would be far more important.
 
I'm a qualified accountant. I know hundreds of them. I know enough about tax to get myself in trouble. I would never expect an accountant to have any tax knowledge based solely on qualifications.
Nor would I trust someone that claimed to be a 'tax expert' regardless of qualifications. Tax has such niche specialisms that no single person can be an expert in all areas.
Passing exams is relatively easy, it's work experience that matters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top