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What's Testable on REG and TCP Under OBBBA Starting July 2026?
OBBBA tax provisions become testable on REG and TCP starting July 1, 2026. Here's the specific content each section will cover, the provider material status, and a study strategy for July through September sitters.
Published May 13, 20268 min readVerified as of May 13, 2026
The Six-Month Testability Rule
The AICPA applies a standard rule when new federal tax legislation becomes testable on the CPA exam: provisions are added to the testing blueprint approximately six months after enactment. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law on July 4, 2025. That places January 1, 2026 as the earliest possible testing date for OBBBA provisions, but the official AICPA blueprint update aligns the change with the July 1, 2026 testing window for both REG and TCP. Candidates sitting in May or June 2026 are testing under the pre-OBBBA blueprint. Candidates sitting July 1, 2026 or later are testing under the new content. This is a hard cutoff, not a phased rollout, which makes timing decisions consequential for candidates currently studying.
OBBBA Provisions Testable on REG
REG covers federal taxation of individuals and entities, plus business law and professional responsibilities. OBBBA changes affect the taxation portion primarily. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions are made permanent under OBBBA, which means the 2025 sunset date in older study materials is no longer accurate. Individual marginal tax rates, the higher standard deduction, the limitation on personal exemptions, and the 199A passthrough deduction all remain at their TCJA levels indefinitely. OBBBA also creates two new above-the-line deductions on REG: a deduction for qualified tip income (capped at $25,000 per year, with phase-outs at higher incomes) and a deduction for qualified overtime pay (capped at $12,500 for single filers and $25,000 for joint filers). Both new deductions sunset in 2028 unless extended. The SALT cap rules also see modification under OBBBA, and the estate and gift tax exemption is made permanent at the higher TCJA level. Candidates should expect MCQs that test whether they know which provisions are permanent versus temporary, with the tip and overtime deductions being the most likely calc-style test items.
OBBBA Provisions Testable on TCP
TCP focuses on tax compliance and planning, which means the testable changes show up as planning scenarios more than mechanical calculations. The 199A passthrough deduction becoming permanent reshapes long-term entity-structure planning, because candidates can no longer assume the deduction will sunset in 2025. Bonus depreciation under OBBBA is restored to 100 percent for qualified property placed in service after specified dates, reversing the phase-down schedule that had been reducing the percentage each year. The 163(j) business interest deduction limits get an EBITDA-based calculation again rather than the EBIT-based calculation in effect through 2024-2025. On the credit side, OBBBA accelerated termination of several Inflation Reduction Act provisions: Section 25C (residential energy efficient home improvement credit), Section 25D (residential clean energy credit), and Section 30D (clean vehicle credit) all sunset on December 31, 2025 instead of 2032. TCP candidates testing on planning strategies should expect questions where the correct answer depends on knowing these credits are no longer available for 2026 and beyond, even though they appear in older study materials.
Provider Material Update Status
Each CPA review provider is updating REG and TCP materials on a different timeline. Becker released its OBBBA supplement in early 2026 and integrated the content into its standard course materials by Q1. UWorld posted updated REG and TCP content with OBBBA coverage through its standard quarterly update cycle. Surgent integrated OBBBA into its adaptive engine, which means the system surfaces OBBBA-related questions to candidates whose study patterns indicate they have not yet covered the new material. Gleim released its updated content as a free supplement to existing customers and integrated it into the standard course. Miles CPA Review is updating materials on a slower cadence; students using Miles should email their support team for a specific timeline if their content has not yet been refreshed. Independent supplements are available from each provider for candidates who purchased before the update cycle. Regardless of which provider a candidate uses, the AICPA publishes a "newly testable content" summary alongside each blueprint update, which is the authoritative reference point.
Study Strategy for July Through September 2026 Sitters
Candidates sitting REG or TCP between July 1 and September 30, 2026 should plan to spend roughly four to six additional hours on OBBBA-specific content beyond their standard review course schedule. The new tip and overtime deductions are mechanical and learn quickly through five to seven practice questions. The permanence question (which TCJA provisions are permanent versus temporary) is best handled by creating a one-page reference sheet. The Section 199A and bonus depreciation changes are more nuanced and benefit from working through three to four planning-scenario questions that show how the same client situation produces different answers under OBBBA than under pre-OBBBA rules. The energy credit terminations are easy to miss because older study materials present them as available; candidates should override that information mentally and treat Sections 25C, 25D, and 30D as no longer available for 2026 and beyond. The AICPA exam interface does not flag which questions are testing OBBBA-specific content, so candidates need to approach every individual or business tax question with the OBBBA framework already loaded. Most candidates report that OBBBA accounts for roughly five to ten testable items across REG and TCP combined, not a sea change in section difficulty.
Should You Test Before July 1?
The pre-July sitting window is the last opportunity to test under the pre-OBBBA blueprint. For candidates who are deep into pre-OBBBA study materials and feel confident on the existing content, sitting in May or June is a reasonable choice. For candidates still 30 to 60 days from being exam-ready, the better strategy is usually to plan for a July or later sitting and incorporate OBBBA into the final review cycle. The change is not large enough to justify a major schedule disruption either direction. Score release dates and the testing-window calendar are unchanged by OBBBA; the next several score release dates can be found on our score calendar. Candidates retaking a section who have been studying since before OBBBA materials were available should specifically confirm that their review course has rolled the new content into their existing study plan rather than treating it as a separate supplement.
Sources
- 1.AICPA — CPA Exam Blueprints(accessed May 13, 2026)
- 2.IRS — One Big Beautiful Bill Act FAQs(accessed May 13, 2026)
- 3.Becker CPA Review — OBBBA Supplement(accessed May 13, 2026)
Brennan Kolar
Founder, Atlas CPA Index
Brennan Kolar is the founder of Atlas CPA Index, an independent CPA review comparison platform covering all 55 U.S. jurisdictions. With over 10 years of experience with CPA review, he built Atlas to help candidates find the right review course based on how they actually learn, not which provider has the biggest ad budget.
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