CA Exams 2027: Income-tax Act, 2025 Applies from May 2027

The announcement. ICAI's Board of Studies (Academic) issued an announcement on 5 December 2025 headed “Applicability of the Income-tax Act, 2025 from May 2027 CA Exams Onwards”. It confirms the switch and, unusually, names the exact papers.

The papers affected. Three, and only three:

Why May 2027 and not sooner. The logic is in the announcement itself. The Income-tax Act, 2025 received Presidential assent on 21 August 2025 and takes effect from 1 April 2026. It therefore applies to the tax year 2026-27, which ends on 31 March 2027. CA papers examine the law in force for the relevant tax year, so the first exam that can test it is the one sat after that year closes — May 2027.

Why this is bigger than a normal syllabus tweak. Most updates adjust weightings or swap a chapter. This replaces the statute. Tax papers are examined against the law in force for the relevant tax year, so the change reaches the way questions are framed, the terminology your answers need to use, and which study material is safe to rely on.

Who is affected. Anyone whose attempt in those three papers falls in May 2027 or later. If you are sitting an earlier session, you continue under the existing law. Do not switch your reading early. Note also that the self-paced module is worded differently from the other two: it is tied to exams conducted from 1 May 2027 onwards, not to a named session.

The trap to avoid. Second-hand summaries of the new Act are already circulating. ICAI sets out the paper-by-paper applicability in the announcement itself, and revised study material follows through the Board of Studies. Check ICAI's own announcement rather than coaching notes, and re-check before buying any book dated before the switch.

What to do now. Sitting before May 2027? Ignore the change and finish under the current law. Sitting May 2027 or later? Hold off on buying tax material until ICAI's revised study material is published. Undecided between an earlier attempt and a mid-2027 one? This is a genuine argument for the earlier one, because it avoids a statute change landing in the middle of your preparation.

One planning note. Your other papers are unaffected. Only Intermediate 3A, Final 4 and SPOM Set C Paper 5 are named. If tax is the paper you are weakest in and your attempt straddles the change, it may be worth clearing tax first and carrying the rest forward.

Source: ICAI Board of Studies (Academic) announcement, 5 December 2025 — “Applicability of the Income-tax Act, 2025 from May 2027 CA Exams Onwards” (icai.org / boslive.icai.org).