Suspicions regarding "AI glasses" have surfaced after the top scorer on the Certified Tax Accountant exam received a perfect score of 100 in Introduction to Tax Law, a subject with an average score in the 30s. We have compiled the scores, reactions from practicing tax accountants, and details that have not yet been confirmed.

The tax accountant exam candidate community is in absolute chaos these days 🔥

The score report of the top scorer in the 63rd Certified Public Tax Accountant exam has been released, but it is said that the score is actually raising suspicions because it is so high.

Reactions ranged from "Is this a score a human can get?" to suspicions that they were wearing "AI glasses," and eventually, even practicing tax accountants showed up in the blog comments. 😳

I’ll go through it step by step: just what kind of score was it that caused it to escalate to this extent, and what facts have been confirmed so far 👇

1. Getting 100 points alone in a subject with an average of 30 points—that is the core controversy.

세무사 시험 만점 받은 수석 합격자 AI 안경 논란 총정리 + 합격자 점수 분포표

The center of the controversy is the score for the first exam, 'Introduction to Tax Law'.

Introduction to Tax Law is famous for being the most difficult subject on the Certified Tax Accountant exam, even though it is a multiple-choice course. It is said that the common strategy among test-takers is to just barely pass the 40-point threshold and make up for the missing points with other subjects.

Number of applicants for Introduction to Tax Law this year: 16,856

Test-taker average: 30.18 points

Failure rate for scores below 40: 74.21%

Top score: 100 points (not a single question missed)

I got a perfect score in a subject where about three out of four test-takers failed. 😭

2. Top Scorer Scores at a Glance

In a success story submitted to a tax journal, Mr. Han, a successful candidate, stated that he prepared for about two years and passed both the first and second rounds on his first attempt.

1st Exam (400 points maximum)

Public Finance: 97.5 points (1 question wrong)

Introduction to Tax Law: 100 points

Introduction to Accounting: 100 points

Commercial Law: 100 points

Total score 397.5 points, average 99.37 points

2nd exam (663 points out of 800)

Accounting Part 1: 96 points

Accounting Part 2: 95 points

Tax Law Part 1: 57 points

Tax Law Part 2: 83.5 points

Average score of 82.87 (more than 33 points higher than this year's passing score of 49.75)

It is even more surprising when you look at the score distribution of successful candidates ✨ Most of the 3,050 successful candidates in the first round of Introduction to Tax Law scored in the 40s to 50s. It was.

40~49 points: 1,529 people

50~59 points: 1,187 people

60~69 points: 300 people

70~79 points: 32 people

80~89 points: 1 person

90~99 points: 0 people

100 points: 1 person

So, it essentially means 1st place is 100 points, 2nd place is in the 80s, and from 3rd place onwards is in the 70s. This is the reason why people in the community have been saying, “The gap between 1st and 2nd place is too wide.”

3. The reason why even a practicing tax accountant and a former audit committee member stepped up

As the controversy grew, a string of question comments were posted on Han's blog.

A tax accountant who revealed that he served as an examiner for the first round of the tax accountant exam last year claimed that scoring 97.5 points in Public Finance and 100 points in Introduction to Tax Law is "physically impossible." He explained that the questions are designed from the start so that a perfect score is not possible in these two subjects.

A tax accountant who identified himself as the branch representative of a tax law firm left a comment requesting a face-to-face meeting.

The author, who introduced themselves as a certified public accountant from the 60th class, reportedly suggested testing their skills with a mock tax law exam. 😂

The atmosphere heated up even more in examinee communities such as the Tax Accountant Gallery, with rumors circulating that "it was a brutal exam where even instructors got one or two questions wrong."

4. Community reaction: 'All-time genius' vs. 'AI glasses'

Right now, community opinions are largely divided into two.

The suspicious side 💬

The opinion is that it is strange that the score on the first round multiple-choice section is nearly perfect, yet the score on Part 1 of the second round Tax Law, which features many precedents, is only 57 points.

The opinion is that it is inefficient to get a perfect score in Tax Law while preparing for subjects exclusive to the first round that are unrelated to the second round.

There are posts citing past study history or English test experience as evidence, but since this is a story that spread within the community, its veracity has not been confirmed.

The side that wants to trust 💬

The first-round score of 397.5 points has been disclosed since immediately after the exam, and there is talk that the highest scorer's score was also confirmed through a request for information disclosure.

There is also an opinion that it is difficult to draw a conclusion based solely on that difference, as Part 1 of the 2nd Tax Law exam is originally essay-based, so even high scorers see their scores fluctuate significantly.

5. Personal explanation and what to watch out for going forward

In his success story, Mr. Han explained his study methods and time allocation on the day of the exam in detail.

They said they studied the textbooks for both the first and second rounds together from the beginning with the goal of passing the second round.

He said that every morning, he practiced solving accounting problems by hand until he could explain the solution process verbally.

He stated that he finished Commercial Law in 20 to 25 minutes at the exam center and used the remaining time for Introduction to Accounting, which was in the same session.

It is also said that last April, he wrote on an online community that he got one question wrong because he marked the answer incorrectly in Economics, and on May 27, the day the first round of acceptance was announced, he uploaded a screenshot of his score showing 397.5 points.

💡 The important point is that direct evidence that Mr. Han wore AI glasses at the exam venue has not yet been disclosed. What has emerged so far is circumstantial evidence and suspicion regarding his scores being too high. It has not been confirmed by evidence.

What the test takers ultimately want is clear confirmation from the implementing agency, the Korea Human Resources Development Service. If the allegations are true, strict measures are needed; if they are not, an opportunity to clear up unfair suspicions is necessary. I think we will have to keep watching to see how things unfold. 👀

💡 Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)

Q. Is it really impossible to get a perfect score of 100 on the Introduction to Tax Law section of the Certified Public Tax Accountant exam?

A. It is not a score that is impossible under the system. However, the average score of this year's test-takers was 30.18 points, and out of 3,050 successful candidates, only two scored 80 points or higher, making it an extremely rare score. A tax accountant who is a former member of the review committee claimed that the questions are designed so that a perfect score cannot be obtained.

Q. Has it been confirmed that the top-scoring candidate wore AI glasses?

A. No. So far, no direct evidence supporting the use of AI glasses has been disclosed, and we are currently at the stage where suspicions have arisen regarding scores and circumstances.

Q. What are the passing criteria for the first round of the Certified Tax Accountant exam?

A. You must score at least 40 points in each subject and have an overall average of 60 points or higher to pass. I hear that Introduction to Tax Law is the most difficult, so many test-takers just barely pass that subject and fill the gap in average with other subjects.

Q. Do you have separate exams for Public Finance and Introduction to Tax Law?

A. Both subjects are taken together in the first period. Since you have to solve both subjects within 80 minutes, time management is key.