Which Exam Do You Appear In?
✅ Who qualifies as a "New Candidate"?
- All directly recruited ITIs (for confirmation in service)
- Office Superintendents who have passed the Ministerial Staff Examination (for promotion)
- Tax Assistants who have passed the Ministerial Staff Examination (for promotion)
- Steno Grade I & II who have passed the Ministerial Staff Examination (for promotion)
- Anyone who has not yet attempted the ITI exam under old rules OR attempted but not qualified any paper
📋 Papers to Appear In
- All 5 papers of the New Pattern (DE Rules 2026) are mandatory
- Paper I — IT Law, Computation & Taxpayer Services (with books)
- Paper II — Accountancy & Book-Keeping (without books)
- Paper III — Allied Laws & Office Procedure (with books)
- Paper IV — IT Applications & Operations (without books) ★ New paper
- Paper V — Rajbhasha Hindi (without books, subjective)
- No choice — old pattern is not available from 2026 onwards
📌 Key Rules
- Maximum 10 chances to qualify the examination (counted from 2010)
- No age bar for appearing
- Pass marks: 50% in each paper (45% for SC/ST/PwBD)
- Once you pass a paper, exempt from re-appearing in that paper
- Withdrawal not allowed once application is permitted
- Hindi paper (Paper V) can be passed independently at any time; entry made in service record
ℹ️ Simple rule for new candidates: You have no choice — the New Pattern (DE Rules 2026) with all 5 new papers is the only option. DE Rules 2009 (and 1998) are fully discontinued from 2026.
⚠️ Who is a "Partially Qualified" Candidate?
- Someone who attempted the exam under DE Rules 2009 (old pattern) and has already passed some but not all papers
- Specifically: 3 or fewer papers still unqualified under old pattern (excluding Rajbhasha Hindi)
- You are NOT required to re-appear in already-qualified papers
- Old DE Rules 1998 candidates mid-way through 2009 matching also fall here
📋 What Papers to Appear In?
- Appear only in the unqualified papers — matched to new pattern equivalents (see table below)
- You must also qualify Paper IV (IT Applications & Operations) — compulsory for all, no old equivalent exists
- If you have less than 3 chances left, a minimum 3 chances are guaranteed exclusively for Paper IV
- Hindi paper (Paper V) can be cleared separately at any time
| Unqualified Paper (Old Pattern 2009) | Matching Paper to Appear In (New Pattern 2026) | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 — IT Law & Computation (Without Books) | Paper I — IT Law, Computation & Taxpayer Services (With Books) | Objective |
| Paper 2 — Book Keeping (Without Books) | Paper II — Accountancy & Book-Keeping (Without Books) | Objective |
| Paper 3 — Allied Laws (Without Books) | Paper III — Allied Laws & Office Procedure (With Books) | Objective |
| Paper 4 — Office Procedure (Without Books) | Paper IV — IT Applications & Operations (Without Books) | Objective |
| Paper 5 — Hindi | Paper V — Rajbhasha Hindi (Without Books) | Subjective |
| No equivalent in old pattern | Paper IV — IT Applications & Operations — compulsory for ALL partially qualified candidates regardless of old pattern status | Objective |
⚠️ Important: Old Paper 4 (Office Procedure) maps to new Paper IV (IT Applications & Operations) — but the content is entirely different. Old Office Procedure topics are now in Paper III (Office Procedure section). The new Paper IV is fully IT/ITBA/Digital-based. Also note: matched papers now have books allowed for Papers I and III (previously closed book).
🔵 Who Can Avail Betterment Chance?
- SC/ST/PwBD candidates who have already fully qualified the examination — but under relaxed standards (at 45% instead of 50%)
- They can re-appear to improve their marks to general standard (50%+)
- Candidates who have NOT fully qualified are NOT eligible for betterment — they must first complete all papers
- Those who already got betterment exemption under 2009 rules can still avail it, subject to passing remaining papers at 50%
📋 Papers for Betterment
- If qualified under Old Pattern with relaxed standard: appear in the matching paper(s) as per paper-matching table
- If qualified under New Pattern with relaxed standard: appear in the specific paper(s) of the new pattern
- Subject to overall ceiling of 10 total chances (inclusive of chances already used)
- Must pass at general standard (50%) — the qualifying marks under DE Rules 2026
❌ What Betterment Candidates Cannot Do
- Cannot appear in papers they have already qualified at general standard (50%+)
- Cannot exceed the overall 10-chance limit
- Betterment is only for SC/ST/PwBD — general candidates have no betterment provision
- Cannot use betterment to improve a paper if the entire examination has not been fully qualified first
ℹ️ Purpose of betterment: SC/ST/PwBD candidates who passed at the relaxed 45% standard may want to improve their score to the 50% general standard, which can matter for merit/seniority. This is optional — their qualification is not invalidated if they don't avail it.
Paper-wise Detailed Syllabus — DE Rules 2026
Paper I — Income Tax Law, Computation & Taxpayer Services
2026 Updated
100 Marks
▼
100 MCQs. 1/4 mark deducted for every incorrect attempt (increased from 1/8). Bare Acts and Rules permitted in hall. 90% weightage to Income Tax Act & Taxpayer Services; 10% to other Direct Tax Acts.
What changed in Paper I?
Removed / Old (2009)
- IT Act 1961 only
- Without books (closed book)
- 150 MCQs, 150 marks, 3 hours
- 1/8 negative marking
- Wealth Tax Act 1957 in Part B
- No Taxpayer Services module
Added / New (2026)
- IT Act 2025 added alongside IT Act 1961
- With books allowed (Bare Acts & Rules)
- 100 MCQs, 100 marks, 2 hours
- 1/4 negative marking
- Wealth Tax removed; Black Money & Benami retained
- New: Taxpayer Services module — TRACES, 26AS, e-PAN, Prefilled ITR, ASK, SEVOTTAM, CPGRAM, E-nivaran
Part A — Income Tax Act & Taxpayer Services 90 Marks
1
Income Tax Act, 1961 & Income Tax Act, 2025 IT Act 2025 Added as amended from time to time along with relevant Rules. In-depth understanding of:
- Preliminary (Definitions) — Ch I (both Acts)
- Basis of Charge — Ch II (both Acts)
- Computation of Total Income — Ch IV (both Acts)
- Aggregation of Income — Ch VI (both Acts)
- Set Off / Carry Forward and Set Off of Losses — Ch VII (2025) / Ch VI (1961)
- Deductions in Computing Total Income — Ch VIII (2025) / Ch VIA (1961)
- Tax Administration — Ch XIV (2025) / Ch XIII (1961)
- Procedure for Assessment — Ch XVI (2025) / Ch XIV (1961)
- Collection and Recovery of Tax — Ch XIX (2025) / Ch XVII (1961)
- Penalties — Ch XXI (both Acts)
- Offences and Prosecutions — Ch XXII (both Acts)
2
Practical Application — Objective questions on Heads of Income, Assessment, Computation of income and taxes, TDS and TCS provisions; enquiry and surveys, tax evasion petitions, prosecutions, investigations and collection of information for CIB (as per Manual of Office Procedure)
3
Taxpayer Services & Digital Service Delivery New
- Taxpayers Charter and service delivery standards
- Practical Applications: Personalized Communication, Digital Platforms
- Proactive Service Delivery — TRACES, 26AS, e-PAN, Prefilled ITR, ASK, SEVOTTAM
- Grievance Redressal Systems — CPGRAM, E-nivaran
Part B — Other Acts of Direct Taxes 10 Marks
—
Wealth Tax Act, 1957 Removed — no longer in syllabus
1
The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and the Imposition of Tax Act, 2015
2
The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016
📖 Only Bare Acts / Rules or basic ready reckoner (tax tables, depreciation rates, capital gains index) are permitted in the examination hall for this paper.
Paper II — Accountancy & Book-Keeping
2026 Updated
100 Marks
▼
100 MCQs. 1/4 mark deducted for every incorrect attempt. 35% weightage for application-based MCQs requiring analytical reasoning and computation. Graduation standard.
What changed in Paper II?
Removed / Old (2009)
- No accounting standards
- No LLP accounts
- 1/8 negative marking
- No explicit application-MCQ weightage
Added / New (2026)
- 7 ICAI Accounting Standards (AS-1,2,7,9,10,22,29)
- LLP accounts explicitly added
- 1/4 negative marking
- 35% weightage for computation MCQs
- SLM and WDV both listed explicitly
1
Fundamentals of Accounting — Definition and functions of accounting
2
Accounting Principles — Concepts & Conventions, Cash and Mercantile Systems
3
Fundamentals of Double Entry System — General Principles
4
Accounting Cycle / Process — Journalisation and Ledgerisation; recording in Subsidiary books; Posting of Ledger
5
Bank Transactions — Bill transactions, preparation of Bank Reconciliation Statements
6
Capital & Revenue — Expenditure, Receipts & Payments, Income & Expenditure accounts
7
Trial Balance — Errors disclosed / not disclosed, rectification of errors
8
Final Accounts — Manufacturing, Trading, Profit & Loss accounts and Balance Sheet
9
Depreciation — Straight-line Method (SLM) and Written Down Value Method (WDV)
10
Partnership, Company & LLP Accounts LLP Added — Partnership Account, Company Account, and Limited Liability Partnership Account
11
Accounting Standards (ICAI) New — Basics of:
- AS-1: Disclosure of Accounting Policies
- AS-2: Valuation of Inventory
- AS-7: Accounting for Construction Contracts
- AS-9: Revenue Recognition
- AS-10: Property, Plant and Equipment
- AS-22: Accounting for Taxes on Income
- AS-29: Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets
Paper III — Allied Laws & Office Procedure
2026 Updated
100 Marks
▼
100 MCQs. 60% to Allied Laws (60 marks) and 40% to Office Procedure (40 marks). Bare Acts and FR, SR, GFR Rules provided in the hall.
What changed in Paper III?
Removed / Old (2009)
- Indian Succession Act, 1925
- Indian Trusts Act
- Hindu Law (Mullah) — Mitakshara
- Indian Evidence Act
- Without books (closed book)
- Allied Laws and Office Procedure were separate papers
Added / New (2026)
- Companies Act, 2013 (6 specific chapters)
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (replaces Evidence Act)
- IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 added
- With books permitted
- Combined into one 100-mark paper (60:40 split)
- POSH Act, RPwD Act, GeM procurement added
- CCS Pension Rules 2021 and Delegation of Financial Power Rules 2024
Part A — Allied Laws 60 Marks
1
Transfer of Property Act, 1882
- Ch II: Sections 5–11, 44–53A
- Ch III (entire)
- Ch IV: Sections 58, 59A, 69, 73, 100, 102, 103
- Ch V: Sections 105–108
- Ch VII (entire)
- Ch VIII: Section 130
2
Indian Registration Act, 1908 — Sections 16, 17, 18, 40–47 and 60
3
Companies Act, 2013 New
- Ch I: Sections 1–2
- Ch II: Sections 3–15
- Ch IV: Sections 43–48, 52, 53, 55, 60, 63 & 71
- Ch IX: Sections 128–138
- Ch XV: Sections 230–240
- Ch XX: Sections 359–365
4
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 New — replaces Indian Evidence Act
5
Civil Procedure Code, 1908
- Order V — Issue and service of summons
- Order XVI — Summoning & attendance of witnesses
- Sections 60–63 read with Order XXI
- Order XIX — Affidavits
- Order XXVI — Commissions: Rules 1–18
- Order XLVII — Review
6
Right to Information Act, 2005 — Sections 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
7
The Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 New
Part B — Office Procedure 40 Marks
1
Fundamental Rules and Supplementary Rules
2
CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965
3
CCS Conduct Rules, 1964
4
CCS Leave Rules, 1972
5
CCS Pension Rules, 2021 Updated
6
Delegation of Financial Power Rules, 2024 New
7
General Financial Rules, 2017
8
Manual of Office Procedure (Vol I, II and III)
9
POSH Act — Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment Act, 2013 New
10
Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 New
11
Handling Public Procurement via GeM, and Contract Management New
Paper IV — IT Applications & Operations
Brand New Paper
100 Marks
▼
Entirely new paper introduced in DE Rules 2026 with no equivalent in old 2009 pattern. Tests functional capability for core departmental IT operations. Note: Candidates with fewer than 3 remaining chances are granted a minimum of 3 chances to qualify this paper.
1
ITBA Applications Modules New
- Brief introduction to ITBA Portal
- ITR Processing
- Rectification
- Recovery
- Audit
- Faceless Appeal, Appeal Register and CSR
- Order Giving Effect
- Penalty
- e-Nivaran
- PAN and TAN — View/Update NRI Status, Event Marking, Deletion/e-Duplication/Restoration, Transfer/Create Transfer Order, Bulk Transfer
- TDS
- Common Functions
- MIS-Report generation for all modules
- Email and Video Conferencing (VC)
2
Assessment Module (Faceless and non-Faceless) in ITBA New
- Overview of assessment
- Features and functions of assessment
- Selection of cases and notice generation
- Cancellation of cases selected
- Manual order upload
3
HRMS in ITBA New
- Role of HRMS in ITBA
- User roles and access levels
- Role-based access control
- Compliance and HR rules
4
Insight Application Module New
- Introduction to Insight Portal
- Data Handling in Insight Application
- Process Flow of Insight Portal
- E-verification
- Third Party Reporting
5
Digital Forensics New
- CBDT Digital Intelligence and Analytics Labs (DIALs) standards
- Digital Forensics Protocols
- Handling of Digital Devices on Initiation of Search and post-search
- Disk, Mobile, e-mail and Cloud Forensics
- Cloning, Extraction, Indexing/Clustering, Form 65B / Certificate u/s Section 63(4)(c) of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, Chain of Custody, Panchnama and Mazaharnama
Paper V — Rajbhasha Hindi
Subjective
100 Marks
▼
Exemption: Candidates who qualified Hindi in Matriculation or higher, in Departmental Exam for Ministerial Staff, or passed the “Pragya” exam of Central Hindi Teaching Institute / Hindi Teaching Scheme are exempt. Pass marks: 50% (45% for SC/ST/PwBD). Can be passed at any time independently.
What changed in Paper V (Rajbhasha Hindi)?
Old (2009)
- 1 hour duration
- 50 marks
- Only one task: 500-word English to Hindi translation
New (2026)
- 2 hours duration
- 100 marks
- 5 parts of 20 marks each: Hindi-to-English, English-to-Hindi, Reading Comprehension, Official terminology, Brief Official Writing
A
Short Translation — Hindi to English 20 Marks — Translation of short and simple passages or sentences from Hindi to English
B
Short Translation — English to Hindi 20 Marks — Translation of short and simple passages or sentences from English to Hindi
C
Simple Reading Comprehension New — 20 Marks — Questions on short official passage, office order, notice, letter and memorandum
D
General Official and Departmental Work-Related Hindi New — 20 Marks — Official terminology, English meanings of Hindi words, Hindi equivalents of English words, correct usage in official context
E
Brief Official Writing New — 20 Marks — Assessment of ability to write short official formats in simple Hindi
ℹ️ Paper V is qualifying in nature. On passing, an entry is made in the service record. This paper may be attempted at any time independently of the other four papers.