How to study for tax exams after years away from school
Studying for a tax certification long after graduation leaves candidates dealing with complete rustiness and years of accumulated tax law changes. Having to relearn basic concepts and read entire books from scratch makes it difficult to remember old material or figure out how to study effectively again.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
How to study for tax exams after years away from school
- 1taking affordable courses to qualify and relying on a CPA review programDid this help you?
- 2buying books or textbooks for independent studyDid this help you?
- 3Starting to study many weeks or months in advance of the module or examDid this help you?
- 4Reading every chapter of the syllabus books as if starting from scratchDid this help you?
- 5Testing knowledge with multiple-choice questions (MCQs) beforehand to identify weak areasDid this help you?
- 6Challenging the exam directly via independent study routesDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I graduated in 2024, so it’s been a while since I’ve seriously studied accounting. I was never really a super studious person either — I was usually the type to study right before an exam 😅 So now I honestly feel like I don’t even know how to study properly anymore.”source ↗
“I’m beginning to study for the CPA exams again, but I took my tax classes in 2010 or so. Not only do I remember almost nothing, there’s been so many changes since then.”source ↗
“Tax has always been a struggle for me.”source ↗
“I was also very rusty. I started studying 8 weeks prior to the course and went through the entire syllabus chapters making notes...”source ↗
“Last time I did any exams was back in 2014, so more than a decade ago. I had to basically start off with reading all the books as if I knew nothing.”source ↗
Where this came up
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