“One person scores 100 on an exam with an average of 30” ... NTS steps in over ‘AI glasses’ suspicions surrounding top tax accountant exam scorer

[Financial News] After reports emerged that this year’s top scorer on the Certified Tax Accountant Qualification Exam had recorded an abnormally high score, suspicions have been raised in online communities that the candidate may have cheated using smart devices such as artificial intelligence (AI) glasses. The National Tax Service (NTS), which oversees the tax accountant examination system, has begun investigating the facts.

According to the NTS and others, the Human Resources Development Service of Korea announced the list of successful candidates for the 63rd Certified Tax Accountant Examination on the 28th of last month. After the results were announced, however, online communities including Blind and DC Inside raised suspicions of cheating involving Candidate A (34), the top scorer.
The suspicions arose because Candidate A recorded a score rarely seen before. In the first-stage exam held in April, A scored 397.5 out of a total of 400 points, for an average of 99.375. A missed just one question in Public Finance, scoring 97.5, and received 100 in Introduction to Tax Law, Introduction to Accounting, and Commercial Law.
Three months later, in the second-stage exam held in July, Candidate A became the top scorer with 663 out of 800 points, an average of 82.875. A’s scores by subject were 192 in Accounting I, 190 in Accounting II, 114 in Tax Law I, and 167 in Tax Law II.
The issue is that, in Introduction to Tax Law, one of the first-stage exam subjects, the difficulty is high and time is limited, making a perfect score practically impossible. For this reason, online users have raised the greatest doubts about Candidate A’s first-stage score. The average score among the 16,856 candidates who took Introduction to Tax Law in this year’s 63rd Certified Tax Accountant first-stage exam was 30.18.
Although the top scorer is not announced separately for the first-stage tax accountant exam, Candidate A’s score of 99.375 appears to be the highest on record. It is at least 15 points higher than the scores of previous top scorers. The top scorer’s average on the first-stage exam in the 62nd exam, held last year, was 81.875, and their score in Introduction to Tax Law was 72.5. The top scorer in the 61st exam had an average of 85.625 and scored 82.5 in Introduction to Tax Law.

Questions have also been raised about the scores on the second-stage exam, which consists of written responses. Candidate A scored in the 90s on average in Accounting, but received an average of 57 in Tax Law I and a score in the 80s in Tax Law II. In other words, A scored highly in Accounting, which focuses on calculation problems, but received lower marks in Tax Law, which is essay-based. Online users suspect that A used AI glasses, saying that a score of 100 in Introduction to Tax Law in the first-stage exam would mean having mastered tax law completely, making it hard to accept a score in the 50s on the written exam.
Practicing tax accountants have also expressed surprise at Candidate A’s exam results. On A’s blog, tax accountants who identified themselves by name raised questions in comments such as, “A score of 97.6 in Public Finance and 100 in Tax Law is physically impossible; the exam was never designed to allow a perfect score,” and “I ask you to recognize the gravity of the tax accountant profession and meet in person.” Comments are currently disabled on A’s blog.
The Certified Tax Accountant Qualification Exam is to be administered annually by the Minister of Finance and Economy. The NTS Tax Accountant Qualification Deliberation Committee decides matters such as the number of candidates to be selected and the exam subjects, while the Human Resources Development Service of Korea administers the exam.

The NTS has begun investigating the facts as controversy over this year’s top scorer’s results has spread. An NTS official said, “Since the Human Resources Development Service of Korea administers the exam, we leave to the agency matters such as how to check for (cheating using smart devices, etc.) at test sites,” adding, “We are currently assessing the situation following the suspicions raised in online communities and elsewhere.”
As the use of smart devices has become widespread, cheating on exams using AI glasses and similar devices has recently emerged as a social problem. Last month, police referred a test-taker in their 20s to the Prosecution Service on suspicion of cheating by wearing AI glasses during the Engineer Information Processing exam held in May.
Cheating involving the use of AI glasses was also detected during the Fire Protection Systems Engineer exam held in Gwangju and the Electrical Industrial Engineer exam held in Mokpo in May, as well as the Gas Technician exam held in Daegu in June.
Under the Certified Tax Accountant Act, anyone who cheats on an exam may have that exam suspended or invalidated, and their eligibility to sit for exams will be suspended for five years from the date of that disposition.

[email protected] Kim Hee-sun Reporter