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Tax Compliance

The Tax Compliance exam is 2.5 hours long consisting of five questions. The exam will require you to prepare tax computations for individuals and companies, understand the tax implications of a course of action and explain potential tax treatments of transactions. The exam is available in March, June, September and December and you have a maximum of four attempts at the exam.

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Exam guidance

We are here to support you throughout your ACA journey to ensure you have everything you need for your upcoming exam, from exam resources to free and confidential wellbeing support from CABA. Ensure you are fully prepared by reading our exam guidance prior to your exam.

Exam preparation

Syllabus

The syllabus presents the learning outcomes for each exam and should be read with the relevant technical knowledge grids and, where applicable, the skills development grids.

Practice software

It's important that you get to know the exam software and its various functions before you take an exam. To help, we have created an online only practice exam software.

Visit icaew.com/examsoftware to access the question banks and mocks in the practice exam software.

Exams and marks plans

Use past exams in addition to the blank practice software where you can practise answering questions. The marks plans will help you check your answers.

Some past exams are used within our learning materials, they are updated to be in line with the examinable syllabus. The majority will appear in the published question banks, and some may be used in mock exams.

  • 2021

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  • 2022

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  • 2023

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  • 2024
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Important information for exams 2024

Following the Chancellor’s announcements relating to Class 1 primary National Insurance Contributions in the Autumn Statement (23 November 2023), we can update you as follows in relation to learning materials and the approach for ICAEW Tax exams during 2024.

All students will be expected to answer exam questions based on the information in the 2024 learning materials.

Exam study support

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Resources

Webinar: Introduction to the Tax Compliance exam

First Intuition director, Matt Dyson, introduces the Tax Compliance exam with examples of the types of questions you may see, and explores how you can best prepare for your exam with a few key hints and tips on how to succeed.
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Introduction to the Tax Compliance exam

In this guide we will introduce you to the Tax Compliance exam. We will cover what the Tax Compliance exam is, what to expect when sitting the exam, what to look out for and how to prepare for the exam.
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Tips for success

In this guide we introduce some tips for success to help you master the Tax Compliance exam.
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Retaking the Tax Compliance exam

In this guide we will cover how to prepare to retake the Tax Compliance exams including reviewing what went wrong and how to prepare to retake your exam.
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Access our leading business library, providing a huge range of resources for you.
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Caba

It can be tough juggling your studies with work, planning for the future and finding time to unwind. That’s where caba can help. caba is the occupational charity helping the ICAEW community thrive through everyday situations to exceptional life-changing circumstances.
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