Registered AITI Tax Qualification Info and Questions

SligoL

Thanks Legend100 - I have been good with the lectures in the other subjects but not great with this subject as I haven't found them great - coupled with the fact that they're always last lecture and my attention span is dwindling.

Actually thinking of going to the one day intensive revision course for this subject in a few weeks time [the extra one that you pay for], will see how I find this weekends revision course and then decide.

Thanks for the insight though - I should up my game and get cracking on the Qs.

Kennyboi

Hi all,

I have been considering enrolling for part 1 and as they close off date looms I'd need to get my skates on! I was very pleased to see this forum and reading past posts has answered some of my questions. I am a Financial Planner with a previous background in pensions. I decided some time ago that I wanted to study the AITI exams. I just have one or two questions and was hoping someone might be able to help.

I'm currently studying for the Grad dip in Financial Planning (CFP) and feel that this along with the AITI qualification would be of great benefit to me. I'm in my early 30's (Is 33 still early :-0 ) and would ideally like to do these in quick succession. I understand that the level of work involved jumps considerably with part 2 and again with part 3. The problem for me is that there is an overlap of 4 weeks or so with my current course (exams end mid-May) and the start of part 1. Do you think this would have any detremental effect? Would it be an issue if I were to miss say 2/3 weekends of lectures? Obviously this depends on the individual but I suppose I'm asking about the intensity of the part 1 workload. I would then do my final semester for Fin Planning course from Sept - Dec. I see the part 1 exams take place mid-August. For part 2 and 3 I would of of course be solely focused on AITI.
I sent the guys in AITI a mail about the timetable and they sent me a link to their site. This brought me to a page with a timetable that seems to relate to last years part 1 course and has since been taken down so I'm unsure as to dates etc. (I see start date is 26/27 Apr though). I must say the response to my queries that I got from AITI was a bit of a two liner. In fairness, I'm sure they're busy this time of year though.

What exactly do the CA's consist of? Individual/group projects, exams, presentations? Any advise would appreciated as Im trying to get a clear picture of whats involved.

Also, are there other venues where lectures are givin in Dublin/Wicklow or is it only on their main campus? Do other colleges offer the same course and how much do they charge? I see that the course fees are not allowable for tax relief, that's pretty annoying isnt it!! Ill be fuding myself as you'll gather from that.

If there is anyone else working in the areas of financial planning / wealth management who has or is currently undertaking the course I'd love to hear your views with regards to its relevance to your role and how beneficial you think it has or is going to be.

That's a lot of questions and the answers to some may well be in fromt of me on the AITI site. Apologies if they are, I couldnt spot them.

Thanks.

crazylikeme

I just wanted to say best of luck to all of you for Part 2 exams!! Hope it goes well.

Uncle Mclovin

Personal taxes part 2 wasn't too bad I thought. I made a few stupid mistakes looking back on it but hopefully I passed.

Business tax tomorrow will be trick and we'll be over the worst of it then.

coolaboola14

Uncle Mclovin wrote: »

Personal taxes part 2 wasn't too bad I thought. I made a few stupid mistakes looking back on it but hopefully I passed.

Business tax tomorrow will be trick and we'll be over the worst of it then.

Yeah - Personal was okay. Found Q1 very tough but the rest of the paper was manageable. Hoping I also did enough to pass. Dreading Business today but looking forward to it being over.

crazylikeme

anyone found the business tax part 2 hard today?

Uncle Mclovin

Ya question one was difficult. It was a lot different from previous years. The losses question was very straight forward I thought.

I also did q 3 and 4. I hadn't a clue about question 5

crazylikeme

I found it very time pressured. Although I revised heavily I found myself making mistakes, stupid ones where I should have known better. I found there was not many easier marks going and Q5 I had no idea what was required. I am not even sure we actually covered this in classes. I revised losses and terminal loss that morning, and yet I did not correctly split the years.... panick is a bad thing...Have a feeling that may be back for this one in August

boogie G child

Crazylikeme I'm doing part 1 and definitely made mistakes but thought the things I got right would get me over the line? Are you very heavily penalised for mistakes?

crazylikeme

I am not sure how the papers get marked, I was told that they mark them in ten minutes, so for example if you had to split years and you did not do that correctly, your whole loss calc will be wrong, so not sure if they still follow it through or if they just disregard the answer... ahh we will wait and see...
I would hope that it is not the case

crazylikeme

anyone who has done Part 3 AITI could tell me which of the 4 papers was the most diffult?

Legend100

for me it was personal tax hands down

for quantity of material if anything

luckyboy

crazylikeme wrote: »

anyone who has done Part 3 AITI could tell me which of the 4 papers was the most diffult?

Agree with the previous poster. Advanced Personal Taxes was by far the hardest (in 2011, at any rate). A buddy of mine found the Professional Advice, Tax Audits and Ethics paper to be the hardest though, because he found the lack of a defined syllabus made it very difficult to prepare for.

Legend100

luckyboy wrote: »

Advanced Personal Taxes was by far the hardest (in 2011, at any rate).

2011 for me too!

crazylikeme

I was hoping to get Part 3 material now and start pre-reading whilst I am waiting for my part 2 results. Since I am confident about three of them, not sure about one... But even if I had to repeat one, I think gaining head start on the most difficult subject can make all the difference. That is what I did for Personal tax and business tax in my part 2 I started reading the materials in March and registered for winter lectures.

So, which 2 papers should I get the manuals for?

Legend100

For advanced personal tax, the manuals are only the tip of the iceberg, there is so much extra material and unlike other exams I did in the past, especially college, you have to do the work on them as they are specifically asked in the papers. There is a massive amount of revenue material on pensions and expenses that is examinable. Plus I found the secondments and residency topics very tricky (but if you work in this area they are meant to be ok)

If you do want to get a head start on part 3, then I would def focus on personal but that is just me (couldn't believe the step up in part 3 from part 2 in this subject)

I found advanced business ok and VAT is tricky but the course isn't that much different to part 2. Everything at part two is examinable again with extra bits on property and cross border (well it was in 2011)

On the ethics paper, not much I can advise you to do beforehand. This subject is much more orientated to actual work situations. You could get a head start on the revenue audit piece but other than that, the lectures and exam papers are about your best bet

Hope that is some help

Gael23

Some questions you guys might be able to answer.
I have an interview for a trainee role and I was wondering would the firm pay course fees and give study leave etc? Also how long do these contracts last?

NewApproach

ryanf1 wrote: »

Some questions you guys might be able to answer.
I have an interview for a trainee role and I was wondering would the firm pay course fees and give study leave etc? Also how long do these contracts last?

Study leave and paying course fees are standard in the industry. Contracts are usually 3 or 3.5 years.

Gael23

NewApproach wrote: »

Study leave and paying course fees are standard in the industry. Contracts are usually 3 or 3.5 years.

I knew it was for CAI but wasn't sure for AITI.
It says the vacancy is for graduates studying for AITI exams and seeking practical experience.

NewApproach

ryanf1 wrote: »

I knew it was for CAI but wasn't sure for AITI.
It says the vacancy is for graduates studying for AITI exams and seeking practical experience.

Strange wording, sounds like they are trying to freeroll on the study leave/exam fees. I'd check with them before applying perhaps.

Gael23

Well i have an interview with them next week.

dashdoll

Hi guys,

I came across this thread and I'm looking for some information for a friend of mine who is interested in pursuing the AITI qualification. His background is in Law, undergrand in law, QFA and currently working in legal field within a financial services company. He knows he will be exempt from the law module in part 1 but that's the only exemption as far as he can gather.

Basically he is most interested in the following:

-Do you need to be very mathematical to do well in these exams? Would honours maths in LC be necessary?
-How difficult would these exams be for someone whose degree is not in business/tax/accounting/finance?
-What would job prospects be like without work experience in tax after qualifying as he will be doing this while continuing to work?
-Is it manageable overall, to hold down a full time job throughout?

Thanks a mil.

snapcracklepop

They are the worst exams I've ever studied for. Horrible.

snapcracklepop

dashdoll wrote: »

Hi guys,

I came across this thread and I'm looking for some information for a friend of mine who is interested in pursuing the AITI qualification. His background is in Law, undergrand in law, QFA and currently working in legal field within a financial services company. He knows he will be exempt from the law module in part 1 but that's the only exemption as far as he can gather.

Basically he is most interested in the following:

-Do you need to be very mathematical to do well in these exams? Would honours maths in LC be necessary?
-How difficult would these exams be for someone whose degree is not in business/tax/accounting/finance?
-What would job prospects be like without work experience in tax after qualifying as he will be doing this while continuing to work?
-Is it manageable overall, to hold down a full time job throughout?

Thanks a mil.

No you don't need a maths background at all. Business background would be useful although with a law background he should have enough business background knowledge. All based on legislation however and youd think a law degree would help you here, but not really because I did a law degree and reading legislation was limited to say the least. Bits for company law but that was it. Tell him though, if he wants 3 years of hell - go and do them.

crazylikeme

I do think they are hard, but not the worst. My accountancy exams I thought were harder. There is a lot of material cover that is for sure, but I have full time job, small children and I managed to sit my part 2 without major drama. My CA was scored very highly, which helped with the main exams. I think the key in success in these is to start studying early and be consistent. They are perfectly doable, although not easy, but then many exams are not easy.

Gael23

Do you get similar time off for these as you do with aca exams?

crazylikeme

I took two weeks off before the exams, I do not get major study leave, 2 days per subject including exam day. I think that time off is not the issue, it is starting to work on the material early on, consistently and if you really want something bad enough you can achieve it.

Gael23

crazylikeme wrote: »

I took two weeks off before the exams, I do not get major study leave, 2 days per subject including exam day. I think that time off is not the issue, it is starting to work on the material early on, consistently and if you really want something bad enough you can achieve it.

So you have to take Annual Leave. Is there nothing like the ACA exams where you get so many weeks off before? I get your point about starting early but I know from experience its very difficult to come home form a hard days work and do those exams.

crazylikeme

yes it is hard, but when you think about it, I study through my lunch and then 1 hour when kids go to bed. That is 2 hours a day, every day it makes 10 hours in the working week and then if you squeeze couple hours into the weekend as well that is 12 hours a week. Does not seem like that does it? I had to become superorganized, but sometimes it takes you back when you sit back and count how much time we actually waste. Taking into account that you have roughly 6 months to study I think it is achievable even for someone working and with family. But it is not easy and does require commitment.

Study leave depends on an employer it is not given as rule of thumb and varies from employer to employer. I spoke with someone who works in practice who gets 5 weeks study leave for the tax exams..

Gael23

Had the Interview today. They will pay fees and give study leave similar to CAI exams so looks really good.
Whats a ballpark wage for a trainee with some exemptions from part 1?

NewApproach

ryanf1 wrote: »

Had the Interview today. They will pay fees and give study leave similar to CAI exams so looks really good.
Whats a ballpark wage for a trainee with some exemptions from part 1?

In or out of Dublin?

Gael23

NewApproach wrote: »

In or out of Dublin?

Its in Ashbourne,Meath so might as well be Dublin

NewApproach

ryanf1 wrote: »

Its in Ashbourne,Meath so might as well be Dublin

Dunno, c.17k maybe?

Uncle Mclovin

Ah you'd surely get more than 17k. I'd be thinking more like 22k gross to start.

Gael23

Well i would find it hard to live off less than 20k gross personally.

Poca Nose

The big 4 in Dublin are offering 21500 for their 2014 intake, AFAIK. The smaller firms and especially those outside Dublin will likely offer a lot less than this unfortunately.

Ashbourne is well out of Dublin, you wouldn't have to rent in Dublin so would likely get better value in rent at least.

Gael23

That's roughly what I was thinking. What sort of increases do you get as you move towards qualification?

Poca Nose

ryanf1 wrote: »

That's roughly what I was thinking. What sort of increases do you get as you move towards qualification?

No idea.

As to the bolded bit, you were thinking 21,500? It probably won't be that high in a small firm in Ashbourne. Max 20,000, I would think, but probably less.

Gael23

I was thinking it would be a bit less that 20k.

barneystinson

Hi all,

Just wondering if the Institute publish or make generally available their marking scheme for the Professional Skills Assignment at Part 3?

In particular I'd like to get my hands on a copy of the marking scheme for the most recent one (http://taxinstitute.ie/portals/0/education/Part%202/2013-2014/Summer%202014/Published%20January%20CA%20Part%203%20Advanced%20Business%20Taxes.pdf) - I'll contact the Institute myself next week, but just wondering if they make it available, or if anyone had appealed their grade they might have been given the marking scheme.

I won't go into why exactly I want it, but suffice it to say it might help to settle an argument!

NewApproach

Best of luck tomorrow all.

SligoL

How did everyone/anyone find today's APT exam? I was pleasantly surprised in the sense that I hope I managed to make a decent stab at it. Q3, the wordy one, looked dreadful I didn't even read it through, so did the other 4. Having moments of doubt where I wonder did I mis-interpret anything badly enough to have answered a Q wrong e.g. Residency etc but hopefully not. All am aiming for is 50% obviously! Glad some of the more complex issues didn't come up!

gerrykeegan

SligoL wrote: »

How did everyone/anyone find today's APT exam? I was pleasantly surprised in the sense that I hope I managed to make a decent stab at it. Q3, the wordy one, looked dreadful I didn't even read it through, so did the other 4. Having moments of doubt where I wonder did I mis-interpret anything badly enough to have answered a Q wrong e.g. Residency etc but hopefully not. All am aiming for is 50% obviously! Glad some of the more complex issues didn't come up!

For the first time ever doing these exams I was finished with a few minutes to spare. It seemed like the part two stuff was very topical. No trusts surprised me. One done and over with.

Szewinska

I went with the wordy one. Hmmm seems like a few didnt. Was a bit more scope for waffle which made me side with it.

trg

Hi folks, got on quiet badly in the ABT home assignment & after yesterday I feel it will take a miracle to pass.

If I repeat in Aug I'm stuck with the same home assignment so I have no real desire to do so. If I pass the other 3 I would be more inclined to give it a go alright due to having more time to focus on it.

If I fail in say AIT is it possible to elect to repeat that in August but not repeat ABT until May 15? Or is one obliged to sit them all together?

NewApproach

I'm open to correction but I thought if you have to repeat in August, the exam is 100% of the grade?

dustyrip

How did people find the Part 3's last week?

I was sitting Income and Corporation. Income went ok but I thought the Corporation Tax paper was really hard and a lot different to previous exam years.

NewApproach

dustyrip wrote: »

How did people find the Part 3's last week?

I was sitting Income and Corporation. Income went ok but I thought the Corporation Tax paper was really hard and a lot different to previous exam years.

I found the opposite!

coolaboola14

Anyone know what time are Part 2 results out next Wednesday (June 11th)?

Skittlebrau

coolaboola14 wrote: »

Anyone know what time are Part 2 results out next Wednesday (June 11th)?

About 7:40am apparently