The September 2022 Advanced Tax exam was both time pressured and technically packed. Many students also found that they needed to do lots of time-consuming computations which caught them unawares.

The general opinion was that it was a fair exam and lots of the topics we expected to come up did feature. As always there were a lot of technical areas such as CGT groups, personal service companies and a UK domiciled individual going abroad (temporary non-residents and the residency rules which is a regular feature in the Advanced Tax exam)

With self-employed individuals, the dreaded partnership opening year losses made an appearance as well as the SBA / SDLT on buildings.

There was also the expected capital goods scheme and setting up a permanent establishment overseas (branch v overseas subsidiary with double tax relief). One aspect that took me by surprise was the reoccurrence of controlled foreign companies.

There was also the IHT and CGT implications of a gift into a trust and the availability of BPR and Gift Relief.  In addition, you needed to do a death estate and deal with a deed of variation.

There were also easy ethics marks on a tax refund which was not expected.

This emphasises the importance of wide syllabus coverage.

If you are planning on doing Taxation or Advanced Tax in December 2022 or March 2023, I recommend you purchase Tax Condensed or Advanced Tax Condensed which will allow you to learn the technical rules If you then practice the key questions I recommend, you too will be ready for anything the examiner throws at you.

 These books will really make the difference. You can purchase them using the links below:

#tax #students #planning #kaplan