Advice on AITI in practice

C Chambers

Hi all


I was hoping maybe someone would be able to give some advice on my current confusion!
I am considering doing the AITI in the near future I am finishing up my ACCA's at the moment but I dont want to obtain a practicing cert and work in practice as an accountant (I trained in industry)
I was wondering would anyone have advice on whether its feasible to start a tax advisory practice after completing the AITI?
Is there a demand for a stand alone tax practice as the majority of tax practices I have researched all include accountancy and audit work as well and without a practicing cert I cannot do this type of work.
Would I be better to specialise in a specific area of tax?

Sorry for rambling but I am a little confused :mad:


Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated:o

censuspro

There are "tax practices" that do pure tax compliance, planning and consultancy. The difficulty with establishing one is that these firms tend to specialise is high end tax work with high net worth clients. It would be very difficult to market yourself as this type of practice if you've just qualified as a tax consultant presuming that you don't have much experience. The type of clients that would require your services would tend to be high net worth individuals looking for detailed tax planning and would probably want the services of a more established tax practice.

censuspro

You could also brand yourself as a tax refund and compliance practice aimed at sole traders and company directors who just need a tax return. The danger with this is that it's considered low end work with lower fees and usually these clients are serviced by more traditional practices.

C Chambers

Thanks for your comments censuspro

I guess I am not sure what direction to take with tax as the current job situation is pretty bad and there may be no chance of working for the likes of revenue or in a tax office etc.
The other thing is that if I do the AITI I must remain in Ireland as its a qualifictaion in Irish tax.
I was hoping that setting up a practice in tax might be way to go but I guess every direction has its own hurdles

censuspro

C Chambers wrote: »

Thanks for your comments censuspro

I guess I am not sure what direction to take with tax as the current job situation is pretty bad and there may be no chance of working for the likes of revenue or in a tax office etc.
The other thing is that if I do the AITI I must remain in Ireland as its a qualifictaion in Irish tax.
I was hoping that setting up a practice in tax might be way to go but I guess every direction has its own hurdles

I'm not 100% sure but I think the AITI qualification might also be recognised in the UK. Even it is not formally recognised I'm sure employers within tax would recognise the qualification.

TheScriptFan

C Chambers wrote: »

Hi all


I was hoping maybe someone would be able to give some advice on my current confusion!
I am considering doing the AITI in the near future I am finishing up my ACCA's at the moment but I dont want to obtain a practicing cert and work in practice as an accountant (I trained in industry)
I was wondering would anyone have advice on whether its feasible to start a tax advisory practice after completing the AITI?
Is there a demand for a stand alone tax practice as the majority of tax practices I have researched all include accountancy and audit work as well and without a practicing cert I cannot do this type of work.
Would I be better to specialise in a specific area of tax?

Sorry for rambling but I am a little confused :mad:


Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated:o

Hi there...I am qualified CPA and sitting final AITI now, to be honest with you, I think you would find it very difficult to go from industry to starting your own tax practice. Your exposure to tax events would be very limited so you might find it difficult to get clients. In saying that, totally not impossible.
You might be interested in 'Tax Assist Accountant' or something like that, it's a franchise, I recently read an article about it and you can operate as a tax consultant but under the umbrella of them and they have expertise on hand which may be helpful for you.
You can certainly provide 'accountancy & book-keeping' services without a practicing cert. You just cannot audit accounts. So I would think doing book keeping for some small companies/SME's might be a good way to go to compliment tax work.

Anyway, hope that was someway helpful & good luck!!

mozattack

Short answer, no chance.

Qualified 6 years and working in tax for 10 years and I don't think I have enough experience to do it even at this level. Furthermore there is less demand in this area at the moment.

tbukela

Is the AITI qualification on it's own worthwhile as a standalone qualification?