can I retrain to be accountant - specialising in property tax?

[keyboardwithpaper]

can I retrain to be accountant - specialising in property tax?

at the moment I have a career in education...
Thank you

I'm planning on starting AAT next month by self studying. There's loads of study options in accounting so I would definitely say it's possible! I'm going to be working full time, I have a toddler and will be studying in evenings and at weekends. It will be hard but I'm seeing it as investing in myself and my career.

Do you know what course you'd like to do?

Yes, of course, lots of people have done it. Trouble is that you have to do the general training covering all aspects first, which takes a few years. Once qualified in whichever professional body you've chosen, you then specialise and market yourself as a property tax specialist. There's no short cut and no specific training route/qualification that does property tax only. And even the professional body exams will only superficially cover property tax - to become a "specialist" you'll need several years of specific self study/experience in all the different regimes, i.e. the different rules/laws for the different taxes, VAT, stamp duty, CGT, IHT, income tax, coporation tax etc.

thank you. i do not know which course yet. i am working full time as a teacher, would like to retraun, have chn so would be very grateful for any advice

I’m a tax adviser. Look at the CTA qualification if you want to advise on property tax.

Hi

My advice would be to try to get a tax role in an Accountancy practice which offers ATT/CTA training alongside the practical experience you need to qualify.

Take a look at the CIOT website for further information about their qualifications and what the study entails. Also, Tolley Tax for ATT/CTA courses.

Re self studying AAT; this isn't an awful idea if you want to work in Industry; however, you can be in danger of being over qualified and under experienced, so most Accountancy practices prefer you to train and study with them.

can i do experience + training online? Working full time in school...

please how much trained experienced accountants ear per hour?

Do you definitely want to do an accountancy qualification first as if you then want to do property tax (which is quite a niche by the way) you would also need to do a separate tax qualification (or just do the tax qualification), but to be honest none of the tax qualifications have a huge amount of property tax in the syllabus.

I am a tax professional (ATT and ATII (now called CIOT) and I have never done accountancy. Joined a small firm as a tax junior straight after A levels and worked up from there. Now a senior manager in corporate tax for a huge multi national company.

@keyboardwithpaper - training roles are typically full time plus self study, so it's a commitment to a career change.

Training roles are often apprenticeships, so NMW for age (post A level) or around £20-26k (depending on size of firm) for a graduate role, rising with experience and qualification level over the course of around 4 or 5 years (depending on which qualifications you do).

Salary is typically a barrier to career change, as is the ability to work full time and study if you have other commitments at home.