What is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA)?

If you’re serious about building a career in tax, one of your long-term objectives should be to attain the Chartered Tax Adviser designation.

This is an internationally recognised, respected mark of technical excellence and professional integrity. It represents the pinnacle of the tax profession. 

The CTA designation can take your career to the heights of the tax profession. Conceived by the UK’s Chartered Institute of Taxation, it’s the ultimate accreditation for tax professionals around the world.

Here are three compelling ways a CTA designation can help you achieve more.

6 tips to a killer letter of advice

The tax profession can provide you with a rewarding and satisfying career. However, with the rise in technology and software advancements, it has become much more than just crunching the numbers or dictating the legislation. To become successful and desirable, you must differentiate yourself in the profession and do what a computer cannot. Within this blog, we provide 6 helpful tips to help you craft your letter of advice to satisfy not only your client and employer but your job satisfaction.

1. Who is the reader?
Put yourself in your client’s shoes and ask yourself, “What do they need to know?” Your task is to write a letter of advice: to a client and for a client. Understanding who you are writing for is the difference between a letter of advice and a good letter of advice.

2. Tone of voice: formal vs informal
A letter of advice is not the same as an email or internal memo. It’s more formal than that and represents your advice to your client, as well as the brand of your company or firm. Though to clarify, formal doesn’t mean stuffy! It’s still all about effectively communicating in a digestible way for your client. When in doubt, err on the formal side – it is a business document after all!

3. Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation
Typos, incorrect syntax and long-winded sentences never helped anyone. It means your letter lacks a discernible point. When in doubt, insert that full stop and start a new sentence.

4. Paragraphs and sentences: keep it short and sweet
Write short, concise paragraphs and short concise sentences. Don’t confuse your client.

5. Use headings, subheadings and bullet points
Don’t be afraid to use headings, subheadings and bullet points against these paragraphs. A letter of advice is not an essay and it’s perfectly acceptable to break up your text with intuitive headings. Creating white space on a page or screen is easier on the eye and gets your point across to your client quicker.

6. Choose your words. They matter!
The power of words cannot be underestimated here. For example, what would your client do if you wrote: you ‘are’ running a business vs you ‘may’ be running a business. Is there a potential risk issue for you to write in definitive language? Consider words like ‘should’, ‘may’, ‘probable’ and ‘reasonably arguable’ instead.

The main thing to remember is that you are writing a document for your client to enable them to make sound business decisions. Ensure that your client can easily digest the information you are providing to ensure they do not miss or misinterpret any valuable information.

For further information, view the free How to Reason, Research and Write webinar, produced by The Tax Institute.

Member profile: Julien Wong

Employer: GFA Accountants & Business Advisers

Position: Senior Accountant

I moved from Mauritius to Perth in 2007 to undertake my Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting and Finance at Curtin University. Straight after my university degree I went on to complete a post graduate diploma in Chartered Accounting which I completed in November 2012. More recently I completed the Chartered Tax Adviser Program in November 2014. I recently joined the team at GFA accountants & business advisers moving from Grant Thornton.

Describe your current role

A typical day in my role would involve, client meetings, preparation of financial statements and tax returns, tax research and advice and so on.

Working in a small tight knit environment at GFA accountants & business advisers enables me to work with colleagues with definite skill sets. In so doing, I gain exposure and experience in areas such as superannuation, audit and financial planning.

Describe your involvement in The Tax Institute’s committees or contribution to the Institute

I am currently a member of the Western Australian membership services committee.

What are your career highlights?

Having completed the Chartered Tax Adviser Program of The Tax Institute. Being able to win over clients and seeing them achieving their financial goals because of the sound advices our team provided.

Why did you join The Tax Institute?

The tax institute is now a reference for tax expertise in Australia and it was natural to join The Tax Institute to gain access to the high quality of tax training and resources. The tax institute also provide good networking opportunities. Having the CTA designation in the tax industry is almost a requirement to be considered by your peers.

What advice can you give to graduates?

My advice would be to be as proactive as humanly possible in gaining as much knowledge as possible. Nowadays, we should not be afraid of learning, hard work and failure as they will be ever present. We should embrace these experiences as they will better us as professionals.

Who or what inspires you?

I would say that in addition to the prominent world figures like Gandhi, Mandela and Mother Teresa, there are a lot of people among my family, my friends and my colleagues who inspire me. They are those who while being great professionals are able to lead happy, balanced and fruitful lives. I am also highly inspired by those kind and loving people who consciously do things to make the world a better place to live in for everybody, even if it often means going against the tide. Also, in the course of my readings, I often come across ideas that are food for thought and help me grow both as a professional and as a person. I usually value these ideas too.

What do you do to unwind?

I find that exercising is a good way to evacuate stress. Also, spending time with my family is always invigorating and inspiring.

Favourite holiday destination?

Actually, I have no favourite holiday destination because all the places that I have visited on holiday are places full of charm and character on their own. I believe that every country or every place in the world has something different but particular to offer to visitors and I just like to enjoy and make the most of what the place has to offer.


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If you are a tertiary education student, The Tax Institute can help you progress in your career journey.

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Putting a wise head on a young career

Most people who are successful end up that way because they’ve sought out mentors to show them how to reach the top. Australia’s current prime minister, for example, always treated his old boss, John Howard, as a sort of father figure and regularly sought his advice during his quest to occupy The Lodge.

The advantages of having a sage adviser

A mentor can be viewed as a kind of workplace parent – someone who can warn you against making short-sighted moves that could damage your career and instead encourage you to do those things that may be uncomfortable at first but will reap great rewards in the future.

Experience is a valuable thing. And while there’s no substitute for earning it the hard way, there’s also no rule against leveraging the wisdom of others.

A true mentor will provide honest feedback on how you’re performing and offer suggestions on how to improve your performance. They may also introduce you to people in their own network who can further your career.

The right time for outside input

There is an old saying that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. The 21st century version is that when you feel you have something to learn – be it technical skills, management skills or even life skills – you’re ready to seek out a mentor.

The mentor marketplace

People often agonise over where to find an appropriate mentor, but it’s really not that hard. In fact, if you think about it, you’ve almost certainly been mentored throughout your life by relatives, former teachers and sports coaches.

Many companies have mentoring schemes in place. If yours doesn’t (or you’d prefer to venture outside it), you can find a mentor through Chartered Accountants Australia, CPA Australia or the Australian Businesswomen’s Network.

Alternatively, you can simply contact someone you admire – even if you don’t know them – and ask them if they would be interested in mentoring you. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

There are no hard and fast rules about what makes a good mentor. If the individual in question is someone you respect, can teach you what you want to know and help you get where you want to be, they’re almost certainly good enough for your purposes, regardless of their location in the org chart, industry reputation or educational qualifications.

The mentor–mentee relationship

Like any other relationship, mentor–mentee relationships go through phases. In the early days, there may be a lot of enthusiasm on both sides, with the mentor flattered that someone is so interested in what they have to say and the mentee eager to learn all they can.

Over time, that initial enthusiasm will fade and interactions might become less frequent. And, if the mentor has done his or her job properly, at some point the mentee will have learnt all they can. At this stage, the parties involved may decide to stay in touch or go their separate ways.

However the relationship unfolds, the mentee should always show the appropriate gratitude and respect towards the person who has chosen to help them out.

Give yourself the edge with free Student Membership

If you are a tertiary education student, The Tax Institute can help you progress in your career journey. Find out about Student Membership.

Learning beyond the four walls: Tax courses that put your degree to work

You’ve spent years taking undergraduate tax courses – and maybe even postgraduate studies such as a Master of Taxation – and finally scored yourself a graduate position. You’re ready to hit the ground running, right?

Well, no actually. Most firms want their new recruits to do a course such as the Tax Institute’s CTA1 Foundations to bridge the significant gap between academic principles and workplace practice.

We asked four senior staff members from leading accounting and financial services firms such as Barringtons, DKM Group, Moore Stephens and Westcourt to explain why they expect their early-career staff members to undertake a tax course with a vocational focus.

Plugging the gaps

The taxation education provided at Australia’s tertiary institutions is of a high standard, but no matter how prestigious the university you went to or what grades you achieved, there is still plenty you need to learn.

“Universities touch on many aspects of tax in their degree courses,” says Anne Goode, associate director at Moore Stephens. “Within a six-month study period the level of detail that can be taught is limited. That’s why we enroll all our tax and business service graduates in CTA1 Foundations. It’s a way to refresh the university course material and complement the in-house training.”

More training equals faster advancement

If the thought of hitting the books five minutes after graduating has you rolling your eyes, consider the fact that undertaking a tax training course will allow you to take on challenging projects sooner than might otherwise be possible.

“Getting graduates to do the Tax Institute’s CTA1 Foundations gives them a general overview – or refresher – in Australian tax law and reduces their write-offs and the consumption of existing staff resources [in supervision] during their first six months on the job,” says Ross Forrester, director at Westcourt. “Once they they’ve completed the course they can move on from just the fundamental professional work to doing simple research tasks.”

Leigh Dyson, senior manager at Barringtons, echoes Forrester’s remarks. “Staff who have completed CTA1 Foundations have a much better understanding of the tax framework and key provisions and don’t require as much supervision or to have basic concepts explained to them. Once staff are enrolled in the course we can get them to start doing compliance-based work, such as tax returns and BAS, which require an understanding of key concepts.”

Boost your soft skills

“I can remember the days when a textbook had so much value – now you can Google everything,” says Daleen Van der Merwe, HR manager at DKM Group. “How do you differentiate yourself in that environment? It’s about having skills.”

Van Der Merwe believes a tax training course such as CTA1 Foundations can teach those skills, creating savvy, sure-footed operators rather than uncertain newbies who are going to cause “other team members’ time to be wasted fixing errors”.   

Still need convincing about the wisdom of signing up for a post-university Australian tax course? We’ll give the final word to Ross Forrester: “CTA1 Foundations is not an intimidating course for younger staff, but it is an effective one, allowing them to better operate in a professional firm. And it sets them on a pathway to the CTA2, which gives them the knowledge needed for a professional advice firm.”

Give yourself the edge with free Student Membership

If you are a tertiary education student, The Tax Institute can help you progress in your career journey.

Find out about Student Membership.

The life of a corporate tax professional: Ross Lyons, Rio Tinto

For Ross Lyons, a career in taxation has helped fulfil intellectual ambitions and dreams of seeing the world. Now the head of global taxation at mining powerhouse Rio Tinto, Lyons holds a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University and an MBA from the University of New South Wales. He also headed up Westpac’s Asian division in Hong Kong and was the global head of tax for Westpac prior to joining Rio Tinto seven years ago.

What does your role at Rio Tinto involve and what does a typical day look like?

Ross Lyons, Rio Tinto

I’m based in Melbourne, but today I’m attending meetings in Perth – a fairly typical day for me. Given that I’m in a global role, I often address tax issues that come in overnight. At the moment, I’m dealing with email traffic relating to our operations in Mozambique as well as a resourcing problem in Mongolia.

After that, I’m catching up with the CFO of our Argyle Diamonds operation. I’m going to have morning tea with our tax team here in Perth and I’m having lunch with a partner at Ernst & Young, who takes care of our R&D tax credit work for us.

Later this afternoon, I have a phone hook-up with our Paris-based general manager of tax, who looks after our French-speaking countries – she reports directly to me and I help her resolve issues that she’s dealing with. And this evening I have a conference call with the financial leadership team to discuss the most pressing finance issues in the business.

What drew you to a career in tax and how has your career path unfolded?

I started working at a major accounting firm straight out of university and was drawn to tax by the intellectual challenge, the variety of work and the opportunity to learn. I worked with them for seven years before I relocated to the US for a year.

That led me to a corporate tax role with Westpac, where I served as the Asian division tax manager for a period of time, based in Hong Kong, before being promoted to global head of tax. After I spent some time as a chief financial officer in a Westpac bank in Perth, I re-entered the tax sector, with a role at Orica. I then made my way to Rio Tinto, where I’ve been for seven years.

What would you identify as your career highlights?

I think the opportunities to work overseas and the opportunity to travel in the role have been the biggest highlights for me. Tax systems are all basically the same, so the ability to take the knowledge you’ve gained and work in other countries is fantastic.

It was also very exciting to be a part of Australia’s tax reform process in the late 1990s, where we introduced the GST and company tax consolidation. The implementation process was very interesting.

What specific tax-related skills and knowledge does working in the mining industry demand?

The skills you need to work in tax and mining are basically the same skills you need elsewhere. You need to understand the business, you need to understand the profit drivers of the business and you need good communication skills.

What would you identify as a major industry-related challenge?

At the moment, there’s a major transparency issue within the mining sector. Australia has recently introduced transparency legislation and Rio Tinto are leaders in this area. We also publish the global tax report, which discloses how much tax we pay, where we pay it and how we pay it.

Developing relationships with authorities is also a priority and a challenge for us. In Australia, we’ve had quite a lot of success establishing working relationships with the ATO and we’ve signed off in the last 15 months to annual compliance arrangements – one on GST and one on income tax. This encourages mutual transparency and creates real-time certainty around taxation issues.

What advice would you give a taxation graduate looking to succeed in the tax industry?

When you graduate from university you need to spend some time really building a strong foundation in tax law, tax principles and tax policy. Basically, the key to becoming a good tax professional is to take complex issues and be able to explain it simply to others, whether that’s in written or verbal form. Then it’s also a matter of keeping up to date with changing legislation. There’s a real onus on the individual to maintain that knowledge.

Ross Lyons is a member of The Tax Institute.

Give yourself the edge with free Student Membership

If you are a tertiary education student, The Tax Institute can help you progress in your career journey.

Find out about Student Membership.

What is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA)?

If you want to take your professional life to new heights, obtaining a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) designation could transform your work prospects and see your career take off. Conceived by the UK’s Chartered Institute of Taxation, a CTA designation serves as the ultimate accreditation for taxation professionals around the world.

The qualification spans professional and postgraduate levels of tax education and is tailored to varying levels of expertise. Here are three compelling ways a CTA designation can help you achieve more.

Industry recognition 

Whether you dream of working for a multinational finance firm or a humble not-for-profit, a CTA designation will supercharge your employability and set you apart from other candidates. Chartered Tax Advisers are required to absorb complex technical knowledge and develop a nuanced understanding of taxation issues – attributes that equip them to deal with a spectrum of business challenges. In many ways, a CTA signifies that a tax professional is at the top of their game. In a tight job market, it serves as a powerful asset that can help secure competitive edge.

Going global

Country-specific regulations might make it difficult for taxation professionals to launch global careers, but a CTA designation is a passport to international success. CTA students learn how to manage international tax risks and comply with cross-border reporting duties – powerful knowledge that will put you head and shoulders above the rest. Tax practitioners who attain CTA status are sought after in job markets across the UK, Europe and Ireland. This means greater access to hard-to-find international roles and can fast-track your career growth.

Future-proofing your career 

A CTA designation can often attract high-profile clients who want to invest in the industry’s best. It also cultivates leadership abilities and sharp analytical skills – paving the way for greater remuneration, professional stability and the chance to get your career one step ahead.

Designed by industry leaders and taxation experts, The Chartered Tax Adviser Program is rigorous but also flexible and fair. It represents the ultimate step towards your dream taxation career. If you decide to embrace it, you’ll never look back.

Give yourself the edge with free Student Membership

If you are a tertiary education student, The Tax Institute can help you progress in your career journey.

Find out about Student Membership.