The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) unveiled its plans to overhaul the scheme of education and training for CA course in the country while highlighting its initiatives towards the smooth implementation of GST on Thursday.

The revised curriculum will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on July 1st, marking the prestigious institute’s 68th Foundation Day and in line with the rollout of the indirect tax reform of GST.

The existing CA course comprises three stages- foundation level, intermediate level and final level, with the foundation level consisting four objective-type papers, the intermediate level having seven papers and the final having eight.

According to the revised structure, the intermediate level will have a dedicated paper of 100 marks on cost and management which, now, is part of another paper, while the final level will have eight papers with one elective with all the eight subjects being made compulsory.

The foundation level will include two new subjects- business correspondence and reporting and business and commercial knowledge. Another new subject-economics and finance will also be introduced at the intermediate level.

The revised curriculum released by ICAI will upgrade the assessment methodology in two of the four foundation level papers from objective to descriptive to test the ‘communication’ and ‘presentation skills’ of the students, said Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey, President, ICAI, adding that the current syllabus changes have been made keeping in mind the evolving role of Chartered Accountants in the current economic scenario.

“There is a mismatch between various CA exams. The CPT exam is much easier than CPT and final exam which lead to students easily clearing CPT exam but find it difficult to pass the IPCC and final exam,” said Vijay Kumar Gupta, Chairman, Public Relation & CSR Committee, explaining the reason behind the course revision.

The new course scheme is in accordance with International Education Standards of the International Federation of Accountants, with inputs from academicians and industry experts, which will groom the new CA professionals to match future requirements.

ICAI also underscored its initiatives towards the indirect tax regime rollout with the institute actively participating in drafting GST rules besides conducting studies on the economies of J&K and Delhi to understand the impact of its implementation.

“We believe that given ICAI’s wide reach, lakhs of committed members, and knowledge base on tax matters, we must extend all cooperation to the government for successful and glitch free switch over to the GST regime and make PM Modi’s vision of one nation, one tax a reality”. He added that certain queries and confusion surrounding GST is evident and ICAI aims to resolve these issues among small and medium enterprises, said Vikamsey.

Besides organizing 19 interactive programmes on GST for trade associations and over 1500 workshops, seminars and conference, the institute has also set up 200 GST Sahayata Desks across the country to explain the multiple facets of GST in a simplistic manner to traders and small businessmen.

When asked about the big picture impact of GST on the economy, Vikamsey said the tax reform will increase the GDP and lead to an increase in tax collections while bringing the country’s ‘grey economy’ to the mainstream.