To stay relevant and remain competitive, it is essential for tax professionals to continually upgrade themselves. To encourage this, SIATP members enjoy members’ rate for courses organised by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS) and selected courses by the Tax Academy of Singapore.
Starting from 2012, Accredited Tax Advisors, Accredited Tax Practitioners and Accredited Tax Practitioners (Provisional) will be required to undertake 30 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) each year. To provide greater flexibility to accredited tax professionals, the CPD requirement may be accumulated over a three-year rolling period, as long as the total requirement of 90 hours of CPE is met for any three consecutive years.
CPE for Accredited Tax Professionals with One Specialisation
10 hours of structured learning of which at least 7 hours must be in the area of specialisation (Income Tax or GST) being accredited for and 20 hours of unstructured learning of which at least 10 hours must be on the area of specialisation (Income Tax or GST) being accredited for.
CPE for Accredited Tax Professionals with Two Specialisations
For accredited tax professionals with two areas of specialisations, the required continuing professional development each year will be as follows:
The structured learning should comprise at least 7 hours should be in Income Tax, at least 7 hours in GST and 5 hours in any other areas. For unstructured learning, at least 6 hours should be on any area of taxation and 5 hours on any other areas.
Please click here for the submission form.
To provide a clearer understanding of the CPD required of accredited tax professionals, a set of questions and answers has been provided below.
2. What constitutes Structured Learning?
3. What constitutes Unstructured Learning?
4. What does ‘any other areas’ refer to?
5. How do I sign up for ICPAS courses and enjoy the members' rate?
1. When will the CPD framework be implemented?
The CPD required of accredited tax professionals starts from January 2012. The requirement for tax professionals accredited in Year 2012 or after, commences the next (calendar) year.
Example 1:
Year 2011 or before – Tax professional was accredited.
Year 2012 – Accredited tax professional starts tracking his CPD hours.
Year 2013 onwards – Accredited tax professional will be required to provide documentation of his CPD hours (when requested).
Example 2:
Year 2012 – Tax professional is accredited.
Year 2013 – Accredited tax professional starts tracking his CPD hours.
Year 2014 onwards – Accredited tax professional will be required to provide documentation of his CPD hours (when requested).
2. What constitutes Structured Learning?
Structured learning activities include:
| (a) | Relevant courses conducted by recognised professional bodies/organisations such as:
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| (b) | Relevant studies undertaken for the purpose of preparing for a post-qualification course |
| (c) | Relevant studies undertaken after qualification with a view to preparing the candidate for a postgraduate degree |
| (d) | Relevant courses conducted by relevant educational establishments |
| (e) | Relevant courses conducted by recognised CPA firms, business organisations and trade associations |
| (f) | Participation as a speaker, or attendee in relevant conferences, briefing sessions or discussion groups |
| (g) | Relevant correspondence courses, audio tape or video tape packages, courses of programmed texts or other individual study programmes which require participation by the member |
| (h) | Writing of technical articles, papers or books relating to taxation |
| (i) | Working as a lecturer, instructor or discussion leader on a relevant structured course (repeat presentations of the course should not be considered for this purpose) |
| (j) | Conducting of updates, reviews and research for relevant technical manuals/handbooks |
| (k) | Service as a member of a relevant technical committee of a professional body or individual firm (to the extent that technical material is prepared or reviewed by the member) |
| (l) | Service as a member of the examining board of a recognised professional body (to the extent that technical material relating to taxation is prepared or reviewed by the member) |
| (m) | Relevant e-learning activities |
| (n) | Relevant courses in ‘any other areas’ include accounting, finance, areas in practice management relevant to the tax professional’s job scope, or other areas of taxation that is not the specialisation accredited for. |
3. What constitutes Unstructured Learning?
Unstructured learning activities include:
| (a) | Reading of relevant technical, professional, financial or business literature |
| (b) | Use of audio tapes, video tapes, correspondence courses, etc (where no participation is required) |
| (c) | Participation at meetings, briefing sessions or discussion groups where no technical material relating to taxation is prepared by the member |
| (d) | Service as a member of a technical committee of a professional accounting body or individual firm (where no technical material relating to taxation is prepared for review by the member) |
| (e) | Relevant activities in 'any other areas' include accounting, finance, areas in practice management relevant to the tax professional’s job scope, or other areas of taxation that is not the specialisation accredited for. |
4. What does "any other areas" refer to?
"Any other areas" include accounting, finance, areas in practice management relevant to the tax professional’s job scope, or other areas of taxation that is not the specialisation accredited for.
5. How do I sign up for ICPAS courses and enjoy the members' rate?
Please register for ICPAS courses using this registration form to enjoy members' rate.
6. I am a member of ICPAS and SIATP. Can I use the CPE hours acquired for both memberships?
As long as the course meets the criteria stipulated in the SIATP CPD framework, the CPE hours acquired will be recognised.
Courses and programmes that are relevant to the tax professional’s job scope will be considered. For further information, please refer to Question 2 on what constitutes structured learning activities.
The monitoring of the CPE hours is the responsibility of each accredited tax professional as each has the flexibility of attending programmes offered by various training providers.
To minimise any hassle, accredited tax professionals are advised to download the form and keep it updated.
