Snapshot
Competition mechanics, eligibility, tests, scoring, remedies and preparation strategy for both taxation fields.
Module status
- •Track: Both fields
- •Corpus module: Competition Guide
- •Last verified: 2026-07-31
- •Purpose: EPSO competition preparation; not legal or tax advice.
Applications and testing for EPSO/AD/422/25 are closed. This chapter records the competition rules and test model as verified on 31 July 2026.
1. Competition at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Reference | EPSO/AD/422/25 — Field 1: Direct taxation, incl. tax law (EPSO/AD/422/25–1); Field 2: Indirect taxation, incl. tax law (EPSO/AD/422/25–2) |
| Notice | OJ C/2025/203, 17 January 2025 (competition based on qualifications and tests) |
| Grade | AD 6 (specialist entry grade) |
| Places | Field 1: 118; Field 2: 122 (total 240) — a candidate may apply to one field only |
| Applications | 17 January – 19 February 2025, 12:00 Brussels time (Field 2 recorded 1,328 applicants) |
| Tests | All on one day, 3 April 2025, remotely proctored (reasoning 10:00, field MCQ 13:00, written test 15:30) |
| Supporting documents | Upload deadline 16 April 2025, 12:00 |
| Reserve list | Indicative publication end July / early August 2026; still "Ongoing" as of 31 July 2026 |
| Places of employment | Brussels, Luxembourg, Strasbourg |
| Main recruiter | EU institutions generally; profile built around the European Commission — DG TAXUD (Field 2 also serves DG Budget's VAT own-resource inspections) |
2. The job — typical duties (Annex II of the notice)
| Field | Main work |
|---|---|
| Field 1 — Direct taxation | Develop and evaluate policy and legislation; assess national and third-country rules; handle inquiries and complaints; prepare legal opinions, litigation and infringement files; enforce fiscal State aid rules; support administrative cooperation and information exchange; represent the EU in international tax work; manage projects and budgets. |
| Field 2 — Indirect taxation | Develop, apply and enforce indirect-tax rules; handle inquiries, complaints and infringement files; enforce fiscal State aid rules; plan and carry out VAT own-resource inspections in Member States; support international negotiations, analysis, accounting, audits and project management. |
3. Eligibility
General conditions: EU citizenship with full civic rights; military service obligations fulfilled; character requirements.
Languages (new EPSO regime — free choice among the 24 official EU languages):
- •Language 1: C1 in all four abilities (used for the reasoning tests).
- •Language 2: B2 minimum, different from L1 (used for the field-related MCQ and the written test).
- •Language choices are locked in the application form.
Education + experience — three routes (identical for both fields):
| Route | Diploma | Experience |
|---|---|---|
| (i) | ≥3-year university degree in a listed area | ≥ 4 years relevant |
| (ii) | ≥4-year university degree in a listed area (or an advanced degree — master's/PhD — in a listed area regardless of first degree) | ≥ 3 years relevant |
| (iii) | ≥3-year university degree in any area | ≥ 6 years relevant |
Listed diploma areas: national or international taxation; law; economics; finance; business management or administration; accounting.
"Relevant" experience must match both a criterion A area and a criterion B activity:
- •Field 1 areas (A): direct taxation (corporate, personal income); international direct taxation; transfer pricing; administrative cooperation incl. reporting/exchange of information; application and enforcement of direct tax rules for a tax authority or the judiciary; State aid rules in direct taxation.
- •Field 1 activities (B): policy/legislation development; implementation, enforcement, monitoring, evaluation; coordination/negotiation/representation; policy, legal or scientific analysis and advice; State-aid monitoring of tax measures; academic research or teaching; direct tax audit; tax litigation.
- •Field 2 areas (A): VAT; administrative cooperation in indirect taxation and tax enforcement; general excise arrangements; health taxes (alcohol, tobacco); energy and environmental taxation; car taxation; other indirect taxes; State aid in indirect taxation.
- •Field 2 activities (B): as Field 1, plus accounting, auditing of financial statements/accounts, indirect tax audit.
Experience counting rules: must post-date the qualifying diploma; genuine, remunerated professional work; pro-rating by share of relevant tasks (>75% relevant → counted 100%; 50–75% → 75%; 25–50% → 50%; <25% → 0); a completed doctorate counts up to 3 years; part-time pro rata.
Diplomas (Annex III + Annex I §2.2): Annex III gives indicative ("in principle") examples of minimum national qualifications per Member State and the UK — for AD 6 the two university-level columns (≥3 years vs ≥4 years) apply. Degrees from anywhere must be recognised by a competent authority of a Member State; non-EU diplomas need a statement of equivalency. UK diplomas awarded until 31 December 2020 are accepted without equivalence; UK diplomas from 1 January 2021 require an equivalence issued by an EU Member State authority. Eligibility is decided by comparing the application declarations with the supporting documents (uploaded by the documents deadline) — missing documents can void a qualification or the whole application.
4. Selection procedure and tests
The 2025+ EPSO model: no Talent Screener, no assessment centre, no EPSO interview. All applicants who apply on time are invited to test. Everything is decided by one remote-proctored session plus a post-test eligibility check.
| Test | Language | Questions | Duration | Score | Pass mark | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal reasoning | L1 | 20 | 35 min | /20 | 10/20 | pass/fail gate |
| Numerical reasoning | L1 | 10 | 20 min | /10 | 10/20 combined | pass/fail gate |
| Abstract reasoning | L1 | 10 | 10 min | /10 | (with numerical) | pass/fail gate |
| Field-related MCQ | L2 | 30 | 40 min | /30 | 15/30 | the only ranking test |
| Written test | L2 | task-based | 40 min | /10 | 5/10 | pass/fail gate |
How the marks work:
- Reasoning tests are corrected first — pass/fail only, never counted in the ranking.
- The field-related MCQ score alone ranks candidates within each field.
- The written test is marked only for the top of the MCQ ranking — at most 1.5× the number of places (≈177 scripts Field 1, ≈183 Field 2). It assesses written communication (structure, clarity, argumentation), not language mastery, based on documentation published on the EPSO competition page before test day ("Written test — Competition test material") — the same documents are provided during the test.
- Eligibility is verified after the tests, in parallel with written-test marking, only for that 1.5× pool.
- Reserve lists (alphabetical) include candidates who passed all thresholds, ranked high enough on the MCQ, and were confirmed eligible. Inclusion is not a job offer — recruiting services interview from the list.
Remote proctoring: the 2025 competitions ran on the TestWe platform; candidates must complete the technical prerequisite checks and a mock test in advance — otherwise technical complaints are inadmissible (absent force majeure).
Written test — what the notice requires
Section 4.3.2(d) requires candidates to answer an assignment using field-related documents published before the test and supplied again during it. The notice states: "The written test is not a language test." EPSO assesses written communication against published anchors.
Notification and communication rules (Annex I)
- •Results are notified only at the end of the competition, whatever stage a candidate reached; candidates who fail a pass mark exit and their later scripts are never processed.
- •Candidates must check their candidate account at least every 3 calendar days — time-sensitive information arrives there, and missed deadlines are the candidate's risk.
- •EPSO communicates in a language the candidate declared at B2+ reading level.
- •Ties for the last place at any phase: all tied candidates go through (and all ties for the last reserve-list place are listed).
Remedies and complaints (Annex I §7 — exact time limits)
| Remedy | Deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Technical/organisational incident during testing | Report immediately + contact EPSO within 3 calendar days of the test | Must include detailed description and proof of help-desk attempts; inadmissible if the mandatory pre-test checks were skipped |
| MCQ question complaint ("neutralisation") | 3 calendar days from the test | Board may cancel the question and redistribute its points among the remaining questions; vague translation complaints ignored. No request for review is possible against MCQ results. |
| Request for review of a Selection Board decision | 5 calendar days from publication of the decision in the account | Board has "a wide margin of discretion in making value judgements"; no reply to legal arguments |
| Administrative complaint, Art. 90(2) Staff Regulations | 3 months from notification (or from the review decision) | Decided by the Director of EPSO, who cannot overturn a Board's value judgement — procedural/manifest errors go back to the Board |
| Judicial appeal | Art. 270 TFEU / Art. 91 Staff Regulations, General Court | Against EPSO decisions, admissible only after an Art. 90(2) complaint |
| European Ombudsman | After exhausting EPSO's internal remedies | No suspensive effect on other deadlines |
Equal opportunities
Notice s. 5 (verbatim): "Candidates who have a disability or a medical condition that may affect their ability to take the tests, should indicate this in their application form and follow the procedure to request reasonable accommodations as described on the EPSO website."
Integrity and disqualification (Annex I §6)
Disqualification — possible at any stage — for: multiple candidate accounts; multiple-channel applications; false or unsupported declarations; cheating, recording tests or manipulating their conduct; unauthorised contact with a Selection Board member; failing to declare a conflict of interest; marking scripts distinctively. "In case of fraud or attempted fraud, EPSO may decide to declare a candidate ineligible for future competitions for a limited period of time." Board proceedings are secret; candidates may address the Board only in writing via the candidate account.
What the notice does NOT contain (verified against the full OJ text)
- •No syllabus or topic list for the field-related MCQ — only "specific to the field chosen by the candidate" (s. 4.3.2(c)); the field definitions and duties are the de facto syllabus.
- •No narrative field descriptions (unlike the 2018 notice).
- •No reserve-list validity period (validity is set and extended administratively by EPSO after publication).
- •No withdrawal procedure — failing to book, sit or complete a test simply ends participation, unless force majeure is proven.
5. What the field-related MCQ covers
There is no official syllabus annex. The MCQ scope is "the field of the competition" as defined by the notice. In practice, preparation should cover:
Field 1 — Direct taxation: corporate income taxation; personal income taxation; international direct taxation (OECD/BEPS, Pillar Two); transfer pricing; administrative cooperation and exchange of information (DAC 1–9, FASTER); enforcement and litigation (CJEU); tax good governance and the EU list; fiscal State aid; current EU legislative developments. → See Direct Taxation.
Field 2 — Indirect taxation: the EU VAT system (Directive 2006/112/EC end to end); e-commerce and ViDA; VAT fraud and administrative cooperation; excise duties (horizontal system, alcohol, tobacco, energy); environmental and health taxes; car taxation; VAT own resource; State aid in indirect taxation; CJEU case law. → See Indirect Taxation.
Both fields also need the institutional layer (legal bases, decision-making, actors, international bodies). → See EU Tax Policy and Institutions.
6. Grade, salary, career
- •The AD function group runs AD 5–AD 16. AD 5 is the graduate entry grade; AD 6/AD 7 are the usual entry grades for specialist competitions requiring several years' experience.
- •Basic monthly salary (Staff Regulations Art. 66 grid, from 1 July 2025): AD 6 step 1 ≈ €6,961, rising to ≈ €7,876 at step 5 (comparators: AD 5 step 1 ≈ €6,153; AD 7 step 1 ≈ €7,876). Recruitment at step 1 or 2.
- •Add-ons where applicable: expatriation allowance (16% of basic), household and child allowances. EU salaries are subject to EU tax, not national income tax. Steps advance every 2 years; promotion under Art. 45 Staff Regulations; non-management careers can reach AD 12+.
7. Competition history and outlook
- •EPSO/AD/363/18 (OJ C 368 A, 11 Oct 2018) — the previous taxation competition: AD 7, fields Customs (40) and Taxation (40), for the Commission/DG TAXUD; old model with Talent Screener and Brussels assessment centre; reserve lists July 2019. It generated case law on selection boards (GC T-804/19; CJEU C-102/22 P).
- •EPSO/AD/394/21 is often misremembered as taxation — it was in fact anti-fraud (OLAF, customs/trade/tobacco/counterfeit investigations).
- •EPSO/AD/422/25 was the first dedicated taxation competition in about seven years and offered 240 reserve-list places, compared with 40 taxation places in EPSO/AD/363/18.
- •EPSO's published 2026 pipeline and 2027 plan contained no further taxation competition at the review date. The material remains relevant to reserve-list recruitment and to CAST or temporary-agent work involving DG TAXUD.
8. Preparation strategy
- Use the Notice of Competition as the scope document — the field definitions, eligibility criteria and duties delimit what EPSO may test.
- Reasoning tests are gates, not ranking tests — build speed and accuracy early. Abstract reasoning allows one minute per question.
- The field MCQ decides everything — 30 questions in 40 minutes, in your Language 2. Depth of EU tax law knowledge is the ranking factor; study directive mechanics, numbers, dates and case law, not just concepts.
- Follow current developments — MCQs in specialist competitions routinely test recent legislation and pending files (e.g. ViDA phases, Pillar Two safe harbours, DAC9, EU-list updates).
- Practise the written test under time pressure in L2: 40 minutes, document-based drafting; structure and clarity are scored against published anchors.
- Do full mock sessions replicating the single-day format — three test blocks back-to-back, remote-proctoring conditions.