The 2026 CPA REG Exam changes include significant tax updates related to H.R. 1 — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The AICPA revised the Blueprint’s assumptions and representative tasks dealing with adjustments and deductions in computing adjusted gross income (AGI) and taxable income. See AICPA & CIMA’s 2026 CPA Exam Blueprint resources.
When Do the OBBBA Changes Apply to REG?
- January 1–June 30, 2026: Certain provisions scheduled to sunset before OBBBA continued to be tested under the prior rules.
- Beginning July 1, 2026: OBBBA provisions with 2024 or 2025 effective dates became eligible for testing on REG and TCP.
For REG exams taken on or after July 1, 2026, these eligible OBBBA provisions are relevant to your preparation. Provisions with later effective dates follow a separate testing timeline, so July 1 does not make every provision eligible at once. See AICPA & CIMA’s testing-date guidance.
REG Topics Being Tested
Topics covered in the i75 REG material include:
- Tip and Overtime Deduction
- Auto Loan Interest Deduction
- Charitable Contribution Deduction
- State and Local Income Tax Deduction (SALT)
- Senior Deduction
- Dependent Care Credit
- Family and Child Tax Credit
- Trump Savings Accounts
The video above comes from the i75 REG course prepared for July 2026 and covers Trump Savings Accounts. Use the testing-date distinction above when planning your review of OBBBA topics.
Trump Savings Accounts: Key Points
Purpose
- Designed to give every child a savings vehicle starting from birth.
- Intended to help save for retirement, education, home ownership, starting a business, or other qualified uses later in life.
Contributions
- Up to $5,000 can be contributed annually (adjusted for inflation) up to age 18, plus a one-time $1,000 government seed for children born 2025 through 2028.
- Parent contributions are not deductible.
- Employers are encouraged to contribute up to $2,500 (before inflation adjustments), deductible by the employer and not taxable to the employee.
Investment Choices
- Investment choices include index funds or ETFs that track broad U.S. market indices.
- The account cannot invest in individual stocks or sector funds.
Distributions and Tax Treatment
- Distributions can begin once the child reaches age 18.
- Earnings are taxable as ordinary income regardless of use.
- Principal (parent contributions) is not taxable when distributed.
- A penalty can apply to earnings distributed before age 59.5 if not used for qualified purposes.
- Qualified uses include education, first-time home purchase, medical, birth or adoption of a child, and natural disaster recovery.
- Other non-qualified uses before age 59.5 involve a 10 percent penalty in addition to ordinary income taxation on earnings.
Watch this video on Trump Savings Accounts taken from the i75 REG (July 2026) course.
What Has Not Changed in 2026?
The CPA Evolution structure remains intact: candidates take all three Core sections—AUD, FAR, and REG—and choose one Discipline: BAR, ISC, or TCP.
Each section remains four hours, with two multiple-choice question (MCQ) testlets followed by three task-based simulation (TBS) testlets. Scoring remains 50% MCQ and 50% TBS, except ISC, which remains 60% MCQ and 40% TBS.
Source: AICPA & CIMA’s testing-date guidance.