Short Description of the Designation
The Associate Tax Practitioner (ATP) is a professional designation that can be awarded to general tax practitioners and bookkeepers involved in the accounting and tax departments of businesses and small accounting practices.
In terms of Section 240 of the Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011 every natural person who provides advice to another person with respect to the application of a tax; or completes or assists in completing a tax return, such person must register with or fall under the jurisdiction of a Recognized Controlling Body registered with the South African Revenue Services (SARS).
In terms of section 240A of the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act (No.21 of 2012) SARS will only register members of a Recognised Controlling Body as tax practitioners.
Criteria for obtaining the Professional Designation
A RCB may register an individual as a tax practitioner on or after 1 June 2022, if the individual:
a) Meets the following requirements for minimum qualifications and experience:
• NQF level 6 and above with at least one accounting module and one tax module, plus at least 1 year’ tax working experience,
• NQF level 5 plus at least 4 years’ tax working experience, or
• NQF level 4 plus 10 years' tax working experience. The tax working experience must be verifiable by the employers or clients.
b) Successfully completed the SARS Readiness Programme, i.e. attended the SARS Readiness Programme and passed the assessment thereof, (This is effective from 1 July 2022)
c) Is tax compliant, and
d) Has submitted an independently verified criminal free certificate in terms of section 240(3) of the Act to their RCBs, e.g. a certificate issued by the SAPS or a verification agency.
Once the individual is registered as a tax practitioner, an annual confirmation is required that the criminal free status remains unchanged. Following this, a sworn in affidavit indicating the tax practitioners are criminal free in terms of the above mentioned section of the Act, must be produced and provided to RCBs once every 5 years.
The NQF 4 plus 10 years tax working experience, the tax working experience must be verifiable by the employers or clients, is the IAC’s Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
The applicant must be compliant with the Institute’s code of conduct.
All practicing IAC members, who provide a service to the public, are compelled to have professional indemnity insurance.
Academic Component
NQF level 6 and above with at least one accounting module and one tax module, plus at least 1 year’s tax working experience,
NQF level 5 plus at least 4 years’ tax working experience, or
NQF level 4 plus 10 years' tax working experience. The tax working experience must be verifiable by the employers or clients.
Practical/Workplace Experience
NQF level 6 and above with at least one accounting module and one tax module, plus at least 1 year’s tax working experience,
NQF level 5 plus at least 4 years’ tax working experience, or
NQF level 4 plus 10 years' tax working experience. The tax working experience must be verifiable by the employers or clients.
Competency Assessment
Once the academic and practical component has been met, an applicant would need to undergo a 2 hours written and oral evaluation conducted by a registered IAC assessor.
The pass mark for the assessment evaluation is 75%.
CPD Requirement:
A Certified Tax Practitioner will need to complete 18 Structured CPD hours per annum (10 Structured Tax, 2 Ethics and 6 hours relating to the service provided).
An Associate Tax Practitioner will be limited to the following functions:
Value Added Tax:
• Registration & Deregistration
• Completion and submission of returns: manually & via E-filing {Vat201}
• Handling of Vat Audits uploading scanned Documents Via E-filing to SARS.
Employees Taxation:
• Registration & Deregistration of PAYE, UIF & SDL
• Maintaining monthly employee records
• Calculation of PAYE, SITE, UIF & SDL
• Completion and submission of returns: manually and via E-filing {Emp 201}
• Reconciliations e.g. EMP501
• Issuing of all annual returns & certificates e.g. IRP5’s & IT3’s
• Handling of Employees taxation Audits uploading scanned documents Via E-filing to SARS
Income Tax Registrations & Deregistration
• Individuals / Partnerships
• Trusts
• Companies & Close Corporations
• Small Business Corporations
• Turnover Tax
Calculation of Income tax
• Individuals / Partnerships
• Turnover Tax
Completion and Submission of Annual Income Tax Returns
• Individuals / Partnerships
• Companies & Close Corporations