 Accredited Tax Advisor® (ATA)
For practitioners who handle sophisticated tax
planning issues, including ownership of closely held businesses, qualified
retirement plans and complex estates.
ATA Accreditation
The ATA is a premier national tax credential for practitioners who handle sophisticated tax planning issues, including planning for owners of closely held businesses, planning for the highly compensated, choosing qualified retirement plans and performing estate tax planning. Their expertise covers tax returns for individuals, business entities, fiduciaries, trusts and estates, as well as tax planning, tax consulting and ethics.
You must have five years of experience
in tax preparation, compliance, tax planning and consulting, of which
40% must be in tax planning and consulting. A tax-season (January through
April) is considered one year. Application fees are fully refundable
if your application is not approved.
To become an ATA you must take and pass a 100 question exam. You must score 70% or better to earn the credential. Our exams are offered at Lasergrade locations across the United States. Locate your testing site: here.
Accredited Tax Advisor® (ATA) Examination
The ATA examination is a three and a half hour, 100 multiple-choice question exam. Questions on the ATA exam follow a Job Practice Analysis that studies what tax preparers do, how often they perform each task and how important they perceive the task to be. Below is an outline of the exam topics.
Upcoming Exam Dates
Registration for the spring testing window will begin in February 2012.
Spring 2012 testing window: June 16th- July 7th
Examination fee
The exam fee for the ARA exam is $200 + a $50 registration fee.
Scheduling your exam date
and time
The Spring 2012 testing registration window will open in February.
Once your regstration is processed, you will receive a confirmation Authorization-To-Test (ATT) letter with information on setting up your exam date and testing site.
Lasergrade Locations
The ABA comuter based exams are offered at any of the over 700 authorized LaserGrade test centers in North America. Go here to find the one closest to you.
Rescheduling Policy
You must test within the testing window stated on the Authoriation-To-Test (ATT), which you receive after your submitted Registration Form is successfully processed.
Candidates who wish to reschedule an examination within the testing window without forfeiting the examination fee must notify LaserGrade at least three working days prior to the scheduled test date. You will forfeit your examination fee if you do not appear for your scheduled examination or are not admitted due to lack of proper photo/signature identification.
Appeals Policy
ACAT will review any appeals on eligibility determinations, exam results, and certification
status on a case by
case basis. If you wish to appeal to the ACAT Board you may place your request
in writing to
info@acatcredentials.org or
1010 N. Fairfax St. Alexandria, VA 22314.
Confidentiality Policy
All test scores and candidate information shall be confidential, available only to the
candidates and others they may designate.
Accredited Tax Advisor® (ATA) Credential Blueprint
Tax Preparation, Planning, Client Services: 92 Questions
• Perform tax impact analysis
• Personal and Entity Income Tax Preparation
• Fiduciary tax return preparation
• Estate and Gift tax return preparation
• Non-profit income tax return preparation
• Qualified plan tax return preparation
• Provide advice on tax aspects of divorce
• Provide advice on tax aspects of retirement
• Provide tax and accounting advice concerning legal agreements (contracts, estates, trusts, nonprofit, corporations, partnerships, limited liability entities, etc)
• Provide business start-up consultation (federal ID, licensing requirements, etc.)
• Assist clients in entity formation
• Instruct clients in entity compliance issues
• Advise clients regarding employment law and regulatory compliance
• Provide and maintain tax records (employee benefits, track cost basis)
• Read and evaluate financial statements
• Apply knowledge of accounting methods as related to income tax preparation
• Advise clients regarding powers of attorney
• Provide bankruptcy consultation services
• Clarify employee/independent contractor status
• Classify employees for compliance issues (workers comp., insurance, retirement coverage, etc.)
• Organize data received from client records
• Perform payroll-related functions (check preparation, tax documents, electronic transfers, payroll tax reports, etc.)
• Represent clients before compliance agencies (IRS)
• Represent clients before regulatory agencies (OSHA, ADA, Real Estate Boards)
Ethics: 8 questions
• Provide referrals to non-accounting or services when appropriate
• Refer client to another professional for areas beyond your expertise
• Standards of ethical and professional conduct
• Evaluate your activities and responsibilities in terms of ethical standards for yourself, current clients and prospective clients
• Apply knowledge of IRS Circular 230 and of the ACAT Code of Ethics to issues that may arise when performing tax and accounting services
Study Materials
Accredited Tax Advisor Preparatory Course
This course, written by experts in the field, comprehensively covers taxes and tax planning for businesses, corporations and partnerships, estates and trusts, consulting and ethics. Each chapter has review questions at the end.The ATA Preparatory Course will also provide participants with the tax knowledge necessary to easily pass the IRS minimum competency exam for the level of tax returns they prepare.
Click here to order online or download the order form
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