CTA, the Chartered Tax Adviser qualification
Here is the full picture of CTA in one place. What the qualification is, the career it opens, how the papers are structured and how to register, and how to prepare for the written papers that decide it.
What it is
CTA is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Taxation and sits at the senior end of UK tax qualifications. It signals that you can advise, not just compute. People come to it from accountancy, from law, and from tax roles in practice and in industry.
The opportunities it opens
For UK tax, CTA is the qualification many firms treat as the mark of a fully qualified adviser. It supports senior advisory roles in practice and in industry, and it is often the step that moves people from preparing returns to advising clients on how to plan.
How to sit it
The qualification combines written Advisory papers in the areas you choose, an Awareness paper testing breadth across several taxes, and three Computer Based Examinations covering Professional Responsibilities and Ethics, Law, and Principles of Accounting. You register with the CIOT and sit the papers across their exam sessions. The CIOT pages hold the current structure, dates and fees.
The essentials
- Awarding body: Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT)
- Structure: Advisory papers, an Awareness paper, and three Computer Based Examinations
- Focus: applying tax law to advise clients
- Standing: a benchmark qualification for UK tax advisers
How to study for it
The Advisory papers reward structure under time pressure, so practise writing clear, client-ready answers to full past questions rather than reading model answers passively. Get the three Computer Based Examinations out of the way early, since they are self-contained and clear the path to focus on the written papers. And keep ethics close to the surface, because Professional Responsibilities threads through the whole qualification.
MojiTaxIf you want to study for CTA
Global Tax Studies is run by the team at MojiTax, who prepare candidates for the CTA papers with structured lessons and practice. If you want a clear route through the papers, start here, and we always flag when we are pointing at our own training.
See MojiTax CTA trainingWhere to go and who to contact
For official rules, dates and registration, go to the CIOT at tax.org.uk/cta. To study with us or ask about preparing, the MojiTax team are at mojitax.co.uk or support@mojitax.com. To study alongside other candidates, join the Global Tax Studies community.
Latest on CTA
More CTA editions land here as they publish. Bring your questions to the community.