WITH THE LIST OF SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES TAKING THE 2009 EXAM HAVING BEEN PUBLISHED, RICHARD CURTIS LOOKS AT THE ADVANCED DIPLOMA IN INTERNATIONAL TAX
Fewer than 100 years ago, for most people the world was small; they probably stayed near their home or work and their longest journey was to the nearest market town. Most businesses were domestic and very few had contact with other countries.
Since then, over the past 50 years, travel and transport have both become cheaper and on a personal and business level there are increased international contacts.
What this means to us, of course, is that instead of international contact simply being limited to laying on a foreign beach, visiting exotic locations and sites of cultural interest and sampling local cuisine, we can add to this the excitement of researching overseas tax regimes.
Now while we may all feel fairly confident about the lazing around by the seaside, sightseeing and the eating and drinking, the foreign tax research angle might be something that we don’t feel quite so comfortable with.
Where do we start? There are plenty of books, but would this be something that we would be confident about? It’s tempting to assume that foreign tax regimes are similar to the UK’s, but this could be dangerous.
As an example, different rules may well apply to the treatment of subsidiaries, dividends and cross-border transactions. The advanced diploma in international tax is concerned with corporate taxation and here the figures involved are likely to be substantially greater than those for personal tax.
Getting foreign tax advice wrong could be worse than embarrassing and it may also transpire that any mistakes are not covered by the firm’s professional indemnity insurance policy.
The ADIT qualification
So after those words of warning, what can the budding international tax adviser do to give him or herself a good grounding in the subject? Well, where better to start than the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s ADIT qualification, the advanced diploma in international tax?
The institute, with its 20,000 students, members and affiliates felt that it was well placed to offer a benchmarking international qualification in addition to its existing UK gold standard Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification.
In 2002, the CIOT led a World Tax Conference in London and the organising committee recognised and responded to the demand for a specialist qualification to meet the needs of international tax practitioners in the corporate area.
The institute realised that international tax professionals have a variety of backgrounds and spend time in more than one country and the qualification would need to take this into account.
The qualification was launched in 2003 and the first exams were held in 2004 with papers relating to the UK, US and EC tax systems. Papers relating to Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Malta and China have followed.
The technical development and oversight of the new qualification is assured by an academic board and, in line with the new thinking that has seen changes in the domestic exams of the CIOT and the Association of Tax Technicians, the format of the qualification is modular – the three papers can be taken separately or together – which makes it flexible and easier to fit study and exams around work commitments.
Paper I covers the principles of international taxation, while paper II deals with the international aspects of the candidate’s ‘home’ tax system. The third paper looks at an ‘away’ tax system in a different country. As an alternative, either (but not both) of paper II or III can be replaced by a thesis.
The ADIT qualification has been a success. To date, there are over 850 graduates, affiliates and students and – as an indication of its success abroad as well as in the UK – 53% of students are from outside of this country, with 72 different countries currently being represented across every continent, major market centre, and every business sector.
Adding to its broad geographic representation, candidates are from a wide demographic; the average age of the members is 37 years and at the moment, the youngest is 20 and the oldest is 67. 60% of members are men, 40% are women.
Success
The rewards of success in the ADIT exam are initially represented by the award of the ADIT diploma, which is presented at the CIOT admissions ceremony. In addition, there are several prizes and medals awarded to those who attain the highest marks in the various papers as follows.
The successful candidate can append the designatory letters, ADIT, to their name.
ADIT graduates have the opportunity to apply to become an international tax affiliate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
In addition to these rewards there is a responsibility in the requirements to comply with the CIOT’s ethics, continuing professional development requirement, and a subscription fee.
Benefits
The CIOT is rightly proud of its international qualification, which is becoming a global benchmark of quality and achievement and an independent means of demonstrating international tax expertise.
The ADIT development officer, Irene Redman, explained that, in her view, the qualification was, in effect ‘a passport that has the value of showing the holder’s worth and knowledge wherever they want to take their career.
The qualification is portable and is a demonstration of expertise in international tax, being recognised across borders and industries’.
The qualification should be attractive to:
Newly qualified
Having had some information on the qualification itself, perhaps it’s time to speak to some prizewinners from the 2009 exams and hear their experiences.
Steve Dale works for BAT (British American Tobacco) in London. Steve is a member of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the CIOT, and was awarded a distinction for excellence in all three papers.
He joined BAT in 1993 and has undertaken a number of both UK and international tax roles before becoming the firm’s head of UK tax in 2007.
How did he find studying for the exams?
‘It’s hard enough trying to maintain a “work/life” balance let alone a “work/life/study” balance, so strong support both at work and at home is key to achieving that happy medium.’
Steve expects the qualification to be useful in his day-to-day work.
‘BAT is the world’s most international tobacco group, with brands sold in over 180 countries worldwide. International tax issues are therefore central to the work of the tax department at BAT and the ADIT syllabus is very relevant to the work that the department undertakes. Given the international nature of BAT, the qualification helps with the day job in providing an in-depth knowledge of the principles of international taxation that has practical relevance.’
Doris Gonzalez-Hurtado (née Gesslbauer) is originally from Austria and began her career in 1997 working in the Netherlands for Procter & Gamble in their finance department.
She then moved to Geneva and is now leading the German tax department of Procter & Gamble in Schwalbach (Taunus), Germany. Doris was awarded the advanced diploma in August 2009. She won the International Fiscal Association Prize for the highest marks in paper II – advanced international taxation. She was also awarded a distinction for excellence in all three papers she sat.
Doris explained her exam-related experiences.
‘The exams are very challenging, but studying for them is extremely interesting and I certainly learned a tremendous amount. Each exam takes about six to eight months to prepare for (unless you do a thesis for one of the exams and that can take longer) and this means you don’t have a lot of time for friends and family. But it was well worth it in the end.
‘ADIT is an excellent international tax qualification as it provides a good theoretical foundation and background into the legal structures underlying the tax system in many countries. Furthermore, the process of studying for the ADIT and gaining the qualification proves to your employer that you are serious about international tax and about pursuing an international career. The process has allowed me to build up a broader knowledge in international tax than I would get by just gaining experience on the job.
‘Having studied for and passed the ADIT exams, this has provided me with a great foundation for developing into a leadership role in international tax.’
Conclusion
So perhaps it’s time for you to broaden your horizons taxwise. There’s a completely different tax regime just across the channel you know, and others beyond that.
If your current experience of international tax consists of wondering how you deal with a dividend from a corporate subsidiary, but you do get a frisson of excitement about working this out, then perhaps you should also be studying for the ADIT qualification.
