CTA qualification
Take the Chartered Tax Adviser exams and achieve the gold standard in tax. Our training programme helps you prepare and decide the right route for your specialism.
How the CTA qualification works
To gain the CTA qualification and become a member of the CIOT, students most sit and pass four tax papers, three Computer Based Examinations (CBEs) and have three years of practical experience.
The CTA exams are held in test centres and are closed book. Students sit the exams in Exam4 on the test centre computers and can access their own version of the online legislation.
The CTA qualification is structured as follows:
Advanced Technical (AT) papers
There are seven three and a half hour Advanced Technical papers and students must choose two. The questions have 10, 15 or 20 marks and are scenario style questions.
The available papers are:
- Taxation of Individuals
- Taxation of Owner-Managed Businesses
- Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates
- Domestic Indirect Taxation
- Cross-Border Indirect Taxation (to be replaced by Cross Border and Environmental Tax from May 2025)
- Taxation of Larger Companies and Groups
- Human Capital Taxes
Awareness (AW) paper
This is a three hour and 15-minute paper where students answer short form questions from three Modules chosen out of the five available. The three modules are dictated by your choice of Advanced Technical papers as you cannot select the same area of taxation for both papers. For example, if you choose the Owner-Managed Businesses Advanced Technical paper you cannot answer questions from the Taxation of Unincorporated Businesses Awareness module.
The five available Modules are:
- Taxation of Individuals
- Taxation of Unincorporated Businesses
- Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates
- Corporation Tax
- VAT including Stamp Taxes
Application and Professional Skills (APS) paper
This is a three and a half hour case study paper where students answer one case study from a choice of six. You will choose a case study that matches one or more of your Advanced Technical papers.
The six case studies from which you choose are:
- Taxation of Individuals
- Inheritance Tax, Trusts and Estates
- Taxation of Owner-Managed Businesses
- VAT & Other Indirect Taxes
- Taxation of Larger Companies and Groups
- Human Capital Taxes
Computer Based Examinations (CBEs)
Students must also sit and pass three CBEs in:
- Law
- Principles of Accounting
- Professional Responsibilities & Ethics
Each is a one-hour online examination which can be sat at any time either at a local exam centre or remotely. The remote exams are invigilated and no books may be taken into any CBE. The 3 CBEs must be completed by the exam entry closing date for the sitting at which you wish to sit your final tax paper. For example, if you plan to sit your final tax paper in November 2023 then all CBEs must be passed by 31 August 2023.
Exemptions
Exemptions are available from the Awareness paper and also from one or more of the Computer Based Examinations for students that have certain prior qualifications. The most common qualifications are:- Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT)
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
- Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI)
Registration with the CIOT
You must register as a student with the Chartered Institute of Taxation at least four months before you can apply to enter to sit an exam. So you must be registered by the end of December for the May examinations, and the end of June for the November examinations.You must also, separately, enter for each examination by the end of February for the May examinations and the end of August for the November examinations. You can enter for the Computer Based Examinations at any time following the acceptance of your registration as a student.