CA Final Is Now Twice a Year: May and November

ICAI has reversed course on the CA Final examination calendar. Instead of three sittings a year, the Final exam is now held twice a year, in May and November, with effect from the May 2026 examination.

What ICAI actually said

The change came in an Important Announcement from the Examination Department dated 6 April 2026, headed "Chartered Accountants Final Examination to be held twice a year from May 2026 Examination onwards". In full:

The stated reason is feedback from stakeholders. ICAI has not published any further explanation.

Final and Intermediate are now on different calendars

This is the part worth getting straight, because the two levels no longer run on the same cycle. ICAI’s Board of Studies announcements for its Live Virtual Classes name the attempts directly:

So the January/May/September pattern that Final briefly used is now the Intermediate pattern. If you saw the three-sittings figure quoted for Final, that is what it was describing.

What this means if you are sitting Final

There is one fewer attempt per year, so a deferral costs more time than it used to. Under three sittings a missed attempt cost roughly four months; under two it costs six. The gap between May and November is the longest in the current calendar.

ICAI has not announced any change to the Final syllabus, paper pattern or eligibility alongside this. The only change is how often the exam runs.

The Income-tax Act, 2025 still applies from May 2027

Separately, and unaffected by this change, ICAI’s Board of Studies confirmed on 5 December 2025 that the Income-tax Act, 2025 applies:

•  From the May 2027 examination onwards for Intermediate Paper 3A (Income-tax Law) and Final Paper 4 (Direct Tax Laws & International Taxation)

•  For CA exams conducted from 1 May 2027 onwards for Self-Paced Online Module Set C, Paper 5 (International Taxation)

The Act received presidential assent on 21 August 2025 and takes effect from 1 April 2026, covering tax year 2026-27. Because that year ends on 31 March 2027, ICAI examines it from the following attempt.

2027 dates and fees

ICAI has not yet published exam dates, exam-form windows or fees for any 2027 attempt. As of 14 September 2026 the most recent examination notification on icai.org covers 2026 only. The attempts above are confirmed by Board of Studies announcements, but the dates within them are not.

We will update this page when ICAI publishes the 2027 notification.

Sources

All facts on this page come from ICAI directly:

•  ICAI Important Announcement, 6 April 2026 — CA Final to be held twice a year

•  ICAI BoS — Applicability of the Income-tax Act, 2025 from May 2027 CA Exams onwards

•  ICAI Examination — Students announcements

Correction note for the foot of the article (optional but recommended)

Correction: an earlier version of this article said CA Final would be held three times a year in January, May and September. ICAI reversed that decision on 6 April 2026 and now holds CA Final twice a year, in May and November. The article has been corrected.