Registered AITI Tax Qualification Info and Questions

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!