The aim of Advanced Taxation – UK (ATX–UK) is to ensure that candidates can provide individuals and businesses with the information and advice they require regarding the impact that the major UK taxes may have on their financial decisions and situations. The emphasis is on the practical application of tax rules to client scenarios and the production of professional documents incorporating helpful, clear advice. This involves the ability to communicate with clients, HM Revenue & Customs and with other professionals, and, in this respect, it should be noted that communication is one of the four professional skills that candidates taking ATX–UK need to be able to demonstrate.

The syllabus

ATX–UK is directly underpinned by TX–UK. Knowledge and understanding of the technical content of TX–UK is, therefore, vital if candidates are to be successful at ATX–UK. It is quite possible that the technical content of an ATX–UK question could be drawn almost wholly from the TX–UK syllabus. However, such a question will require the analysis of information provided, and the application of technical knowledge to the situation in order to solve the problem.

The ATX– UK syllabus extends the coverage of income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax and introduces stamp taxes (stamp duty land tax and stamp duty). The syllabus is wide, as befits an optional exam at this level. New technical content is clearly identified in the Study Guide and will be examined regularly.

While no part of the syllabus is more important than any other, it should be recognised from the above that knowledge of the technical areas that are exclusive to ATX–UK will not, on its own, be sufficient to pass the exam.

The technical areas included within the syllabus are set out in the Study Guide on ACCA’s website. Candidates should always check the website for the latest Study Guide relevant to their exam session to ensure that nothing has changed and, hence, the learning that they are about to embark on is up to date.

Candidates are required to explain, calculate and apply their knowledge of the system of taxation in the UK. This knowledge must be up to date. Candidates must familiarise themselves with the changes introduced by the recent Finance Acts as summarised in the Finance Act articles published on the website.

The style and format of the exam

The ATX–UK exam is, similar to all other Strategic Professional Options, a three hours and 15 minutes computer-based exam.

The exam consists of two sections, section A and section B. All questions are compulsory.

Section A comprises one 50 mark question, which will include 10 professional skills marks. Questions 2 and 3 in Section B are each worth 25 marks. Each Section B question will include 5 professional skills marks. The whole of the syllabus is examinable throughout both sections of the exam.

The Section A question requires candidates to analyse the information provided and to use any guidance given to help address the requirements. It will deal with a number of different taxes and will generally require a report, letter, memo or meeting notes as part of the answer. The 50 marks will be broken down into 40 technical and 10 professional skills marks – all four professional skills will be tested within this question, namely communication, analysis and evaluation, commercial acumen and scepticism. Candidates should refer to separate guidance on what these skills entail and how best to demonstrate them in the context of the ATX–UK exam.

The technical marks within the Section A question will include 5 marks in respect of ethics – here, once again, candidates should refer to separate guidance providing more detail as to how this area of the syllabus will be tested.

Because the Section A question is relatively large and is likely to contain a number of exhibits in order to provide all background information relevant to the scenario being tested, careful time management is important, and candidates are advised to use the number of marks allocated to each requirement to determine how much time to spend on each part.

Each Section B question will comprise 20 technical and 5 professional skills marks. The professional skills being examined will be appropriate to the particular question. This will involve a minimum of two per question, drawn from analysis and evaluation, commercial acumen and scepticism. Communication skills will not be tested in Section B. Once again, separate guidance should be referred to in order to fully appreciate and understand how the professional skills are tested within an ATX context.

Throughout the exam, candidates are expected to be able to identify issues, as well as demonstrate detailed knowledge of the tax system. In line with this emphasis on practicality, questions may require candidates to address ‘the UK tax consequences’ of a given situation without indicating which particular taxes to consider. It is up to candidates to identify the relevant taxes, and the issues in respect of those taxes, before beginning their answers.

Calculations are normally only required in support of explanations and advice, and not in isolation. Again, it is often up to candidates to decide which calculations to produce in order to do this in the most efficient manner. Advice on how to approach a given problem may be provided in the question.

There is no specific allocation of numerical calculation versus narrative balance within TX–UK and ATX–UK. However, in practice, TX–UK is weighted towards numerical calculations, whereas ATX–UK is weighted towards narrative explanations. In both exams, the ability of candidates to be able to explain their treatments and opinions is vital. It is important to note that this does not mean that candidates need to have perfect grammar or spelling; it means that they need to make themselves understood.

With regard to the professional skills, it is important for candidates to realise that there is no need to address these separately when answering a question. Instead, these marks will be awarded for the way in which questions are answered – ie by reference to the approach taken, the manner in which the work is carried out and the particular technical points which are identified and discussed.

Candidates will therefore earn the professional skills marks by:

• following any instructions and responding to all of the requirements
• taking time to think about the information provided and how the relevant technical rules apply to the specific scenario which is under scrutiny
• taking care to make it as easy as possible for the intended audience (ie for Q1, the manager/director/partner or client to which the memo or report, etc, is addressed; and for all questions, ultimately, the marker) to follow and understand what has been done.

Specimen exam

A full specimen exam, including questions, answers and marking scheme, and clearly showing the professional skills marks, is available for candidates on ACCA's Practice Platform.

Approach to the exam

Irrespective of whether a candidate is preparing for TX–UK or ATX–UK, there are a number of stages that they need to go through in order to be successful. The approach to be taken is as follows:

• Acquire the knowledge and obtain a solid understanding of the subject area. At both levels within the taxation stream, a good understanding of the UK system of taxation is vital to a successful exam result. Knowledge can be acquired using a range of different options, and it is best to select a method that is appropriate to you.
• However you choose to acquire the relevant knowledge, you should also use the support resources available on the ACCA website (technical articles, Study Guides, examiner reports, and examiner interviews being just some of the available resources). These resources are there to support you as an additional source of information and learning.
• Consolidate understanding by practising questions that focus on specific topic areas. In order to have a good understanding, it is vital to attempt questions that are focused on the topic. However, although these questions assist understanding of the basic approach to the topic they do not necessarily provide a grasp of exam technique.
• To improve your exam technique and approach, practise exam‑standard questions. You can find these on the ACCA Study Hub and also in material written by both ACCA Content Partners – BPP and Kaplan. All of ACCA’s exams require candidates to apply their knowledge at an appropriate level for the stage of exam. Candidates who attempt exams without practising exam-standard questions are unlikely to pass as they are unlikely to have mastered the required exam technique or technical understanding.
• ACCA’s website includes past exam questions and answers. Note, however, that these past exams are based on the legislation that was in force (and was therefore examinable) at the time of the exam session. This may mean that some of the content of a question or answer may be out of date.
• ACCA Content Partners are allowed to use these past exam questions. They adapt the question or answer so that the content is relevant for the exam session(s) to which the material (study text or revision bank) relates. They may also write their own exam standard questions which may look at areas that have not yet been examined.
• When practising exam-standard questions it is vital candidates spend time reviewing their answers against the model answer to learn what was done well and where mistakes were made so as not to repeat these errors. It should be noted that the model answers for written questions will always contain more than a candidate needs to write in order to achieve a good pass.

Finally, when actually attempting the real exam, it is important to follow the instructions of the exam and answer all the questions. Achieving a pass is much harder if key parts are left out.

In the exam

Candidates should pay particular attention to the following in order to maximise their chances of success in the ATX–UK exam:

Address the requirement.

• Read the requirement carefully – in the Section A question the detailed tasks that candidates are to perform will be set out in the ‘work to be carried out’ exhibit. It may be helpful to copy and paste these requirements into the word processor to use as base for structuring an answer. Marks are awarded for satisfying the requirements and not for other information even if it is technically correct.
• The requirements of each question are carefully worded in order to provide guidance as to the style and content of answers. Candidates should note the command words (calculate, explain, etc), any matters which are not to be covered, and the precise issues they have been asked to address.
• Candidates should also note any additional guidance given in the question or in any notes following the requirement regarding the approach that should be taken when answering the question.
• Pay attention to the number of marks available – this provides a clear indication of the amount of time that should be spent on each question part.

Candidates should not provide general explanations or long introductions.

• If candidates are asked to calculate, there is no need to explain what they are going to do before they do it; they should just get on with it – explanations should only be provided when asked for.
• Candidates should think before they write. They should then write whatever is necessary to satisfy the requirement.
• Candidates should apply their knowledge to the facts by reference to the requirement.

Candidates should think before they start and manage their time. This will:

• Ensure that they allow the correct amount of time for each question. It should be noted that the professional skills marks are not earned separately but are awarded by reference to the technical work which is done. This means that, from a planning perspective, candidates should treat the exam as being out of 80, rather than 100, marks and thus, when organising time, they should work on the assumption that they have 2.4 minutes per mark.
• Provide an opportunity to identify the relevant issues, and the calculations necessary, to support their advice.
• Enable them to consider whether the necessary calculations could be carried out in a particularly efficient way. For example, it may be that the client will be a higher rate taxpayer regardless of proposed changes to income; the income tax implications can therefore be computed at the margin without the need to prepare full income tax computations.

Section A questions are long and may include a number of requirements. A separate article entitled ‘Guidance on answering Section A questions in ATX–UK’ is available.

Written by a member of the ATX–UK examining team