It is alleged by few students that ICAI has asked question from the topics which were excluded by it from syllabus for November 2011 examinations by two separate Announcement published on its website. The allegation were made by students of November 2011 PCE examination in respect of Taxation paper. We have also received an email from one such students in which he explained the discrepancy and requested ICAI to do the needful. He also mailed his mail to ICAI officials. Text of the email is given as under. We are not publishing here the name of student to protect the identity.
Gross Negligence by ICAI in the question paper of Taxation, PCE Nov-2011
Sir,
Please refer to this announcement by Director, Board of Studies, hosted on the Institute’s website—
Taxable Services Applicable for May and November, 2011 – (18-11-2010)
It clarifies about PCE that “in Part –II : Service tax and VAT of Paper 5 : Taxation, students will not be tested on specific questions covering individual taxable services”
Contrary to what is stated in the above announcement, the Paper 5 of PCE 2011, Taxation, held on 09/11/2011 included question about those specific taxable services which were included in the syllabus for IPCE but not in PCE.
Q.No. 3(c)(i) is about management consultancy service.
Q.No. 4(c) is about (i) Job work, (ii) small scale service providers, (iii) sponsorship services and (iv) export of services.
Q.No. 6(c) is about liability of service tax in respect of specific services enumerated therein.
Further, another announcement titled “List of Institute’s Publications relevant for November 2011 examination” is also consistent with the above mentioned announcement about exclusion of specific taxable services in PCE.
It is unfair for PCE candidates to be tested for chapters expressly excluded from syllabus. Needless to say that the section of Service Tax and VAT weigh 50 marks in IPCC while in PCC it carries 25 marks out of the 100 marks for the paper of Taxation.
I think, till now, no acknowledgment has been made by ICAI about this discrepancy. Please advise me whom should I report my grievance and in which manner.
Yours sincerely
Now, the suggested answers for this examination paper has been published by the ICAI. And the text of the questions is openly accessible at . The allegations can be further corroborated.
How it can be true that the syllabus is not defined? Can a law student or an advocate can be expected to remember even the short-titles of all the statues today in force in India? To give you an idea of the number of laws, leaving out those statues which have been enforced since Independence, there are 34,735 laws still prevalent in India which were enacted during the British Raj.
It is not that the syllabus for the CA course is not defined at all, but is defined in broad terms. Besides, mind that PCE is the intermediate examination and in order to demarcate it from the Finals, its syllabus has to define, in a more precise manner, what is to be included therein. (Furthermore, if you follow the hyperlink of above announcement, it reads that in the Final exams students will be tested only for 28 specific services, out of the 119 services defined in section 65(105)).
It is rational to rule out some topics from the sweep of the syllabus for the sake of avoiding rote-learning. And the definitions of 119 taxable services is a matter of learning by rote indeed, if asked in the examinations. The issue here is not about whether a particular topic was includible or not by virtue of the comprehensiveness of syllabus, but that the assertion of the Institute meant that the paper of PCE shall not include any question which requires knowledge of section 65(105). And then, contradicting that assertion, they gave such questions as are clearly in direct relation to section 65(105).
this is not happening first time, it was happened in previous papers also. Students have to prepare their mind for such things and should update themselves.
The act done by ICAI is normal.
there is nothing new in it, not first time by icai. CA students should be prepared for it.. There is no such thing like ‘out of syllabus’ in CA exams.
There is nothing in CA that is called a defined syllabus. It is broad to the extent the law the framed. That is the part which creates value for the curriculum and this is the reason a chartered accountant has a great value in the society.
No I do not agree with this presumption that syllabus is defined for PCE. There is no such criteria in CA exams.