Do you really read the whole textbook from A-Z?

[KittenMittens]

In addition to the tax code, TESC recommends two tax guide books. Of course, one would know these things after looking at the test description. I didn't use the recommended books, but I used a similar one for Enrolled Agents. All you have to do is look up the answers for the multiple choice questions. The tax guide books lay out step by step how to calculate something. They give you three hours to complete the test. Using the tax code would only make the test more difficult. You purposely skipped over the feedback for the exam that said it was easy. That was the feedback I used to determine that I probably didn't need to study for the exam.

I haven't purposely skipped over feedback for the exam that may or could have said it was easy (though there wasn't much indicating this assertion you make). I merely went to the test taker subscriber's forum where people post their thoughts on exams, and I didn't dig through the deep realms of the Internet. I put more emphasis on what students' general impressions are over what the official neutral test descriptions are. They're not going to tell you that an exam is hard or easy. But I did find a few threads and most of them said it was hard with only a couple saying it was easy, but most saying that preparing for it was quite involved. Again, this exam could very well be easy as you mention (I don't think the typical forum user may realize that), it's just not very accessible or centrally located to be readily obvious - you'd really really have to dig for that trace comment you mention where you're putting the trust in the opinion of one person and not many.

Here's an aggregate of links regarding the exam I found through a google search, and I'll make a tally of what the impressions of these people were. After about 10 pages or so, noiseignal ratio was too high, so I just focused on gleaning information from those 10 pages:

http://www.degreeforum.net/specific-exam...ation.html

3/4 posts saying its hard and time-intensive to prepare for.

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...ation.html

Comments are generally neutral saying that its passable but with ample studying and prep. HorseManiac thought it was very difficult.

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...ation.html

Consensus is that the exam is hard (from 2008)

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...ation.html

One person says its straightforward but has a like for taxation.

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...ement.html

This is thread talking about finding easy TECEPs and Yanji indicates some exams that are easier than others but indicates that it should be avoided if you dislike accounting and mentions you'd have to study 2-3x for this one compared to other ones.

I did just find out that I passed the Federal Income Taxation TECEP. Yay! I didn't study at all. I did study for and pass two Enrolled Agent exams, but that was about a year ago. I couldn't really remember anything, and I tested on the 2012 tax year. I wouldn't say that the taxation TECEP is easy, but you have a lot of time to look up the answers. I had 30 min. to spare. Oh, and I didn't use the recommended textbooks because I had a book for the EA exams.

In fact in this very thread you mention that "you wouldn't say TECEP in Taxation is easy"

Beyond these links, there is little to no other information about this exam besides people wondering about the difficulty and being unanswered.

In one of the threads you explicitly mention that this TECEP isn't exactly easy either, yet here you are saying it is, and from all the aggregate comments I could reasonably find, majority said it was not straightforward as you state it is. So how can you imply I'm being disingenuous when I couldn't find much data saying that this exam was easy? Majority of the comments had a fear or observation that you'd have to study hard for this exam, and that it was difficult.

Even if we assume you're correct on this (though the data I've shown clearly shows otherwise), it's all over the place, and not in one easy to access and comprehend location. Scattered and messy raw data is meaningless without proper context especially if you can't easily find it. Like I said I'm not against TECEPs, I'm against uncertainty, and difficulty in not knowing what to anticipate. That means having review materials, practice exams, ample test results, and abundant discussions that reach some sort of consensus. I'm not alone on this by any means - it's just that the posts/threads on these issues are scattered throughout the forum and through time, and the OP is proof of that.

Anyways, I don't want to derail the thread, so I'll keep quiet on this issue on this thread from here on out - my only point was that the concern about TECEPs being a PITA is a very valid one as the OP and many others like myself have indicated, and it's a very important issue for people to consider before going for the TESC 8 exam/24 credit "per credit" plan - they should at least know what they're getting themselves into rather than discovering what this type of program may entail and what the pros/cons of that are. I think people are hooked on the idea that going for 24 credits in TECEPs exams is a good option because it's so cheap without realizing any potential pitfalls like the OP here has encountered & these incidents are not unusual or rare either - there are plenty of forum posts about people lamenting about how hard/involved TECEP exams are. So I think it's significant enough where enough posters have made a similar complaint that it merits enough attention. I know it was an important one for me because I was leaning towards the TECEP "per credit" plan until I realized it wouldn't be so easy to do. That is all.