EY GDS — Tax Associate
Free first round · 20 min · no credit card
Aptitude (45 min) → Communication → HR. Commerce and MBA freshers for tax delivery.
Who can apply
Eligible streams
BCOM · BBA · MCOM · MBA +1
Backlog policy
no active backlogs (reported for drives; confirm with your placement cell)
Round-by-round, in order
"Selected" for EY GDS tax/assurance (campus) = clears the online aptitude screen, communicates clearly, defines basic accounting and tax terms correctly, and shows authenticity, a learning attitude and willingness for busy-season hours. This is a measurement mock, not EY's official process.
- 01Aptitude / OA45 minEliminating
Online aptitude — quantitative, verbal and logical reasoning; some drives add a situational judgement test; no negative marking and no sectional cutoff reported. Counts not published.
50% advance - 02Communication round20 min
Spoken English check; a GD or case exercise is reported in some drives only (not run here)
70% advance - 03HR interview25 minEliminating
Technical (basic commerce definitions) and HR — why EY and why not another Big 4, 3-year goal, strengths
60% advance
The OA at a glance
Total questions
30
Duration
30 min
Cutoff
60%
Sections breakdown
| Section | Questions | Duration | Negative marking |
|---|---|---|---|
| quant | 10 | 10 min | No |
| data interpretation | 6 | 6 min | No |
| verbal | 8 | 8 min | No |
| logical | 6 | 6 min | No |
What the HR round actually tests
Willingness questions
- Tell me about yourself.
- What do you know about EY, and why do you want to join?
- Tax and audit work has busy seasons with long hours around filing deadlines. How do you feel about that, and how would you manage your energy?
- Are you planning to pursue CA Intermediate, ACCA, CMA or an MBA alongside work? How would you balance study and work?
- What is revenue recognition, and why do auditors care about it? Answer in simple words.
- What is the difference between direct tax and indirect tax? Give one example of each.
- Your manager asks for a report tonight and you find an error in your own earlier work. What do you do?
- Client data is confidential. A friend asks you, casually, how a company you worked on is doing. How do you respond?
- How do you make sure you do not make mistakes when the work is detailed and repetitive?
Common red flags
- Casual about accuracy, deadlines or confidentiality of client data
- Unwilling to work long hours in busy season (peak filing periods)
- Clearly planning to leave soon (e.g. studying abroad) with no commitment to the role
- Cannot explain a basic tax or accounting term they put on their own CV
- Would hide an error rather than escalate it
- No idea what the firm does
What else to know
COMPANY FACTS (for the 'what do you know about EY' question; from the sources listed below, verified 3 Nov 2026): - EY purpose: "Building a better working world" (ey.com/en_in/about-us, fetched 3 Nov 2026). - About 400,000 people and about one million alumni worldwide (same page). - Four service lines: Assurance, Consulting, Strategy and Transactions, and Tax (same page). - EY is a global network of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited (same page). - EY GDS details (India headcount, centres): UNPROVEN, the fetched page only links to GDS careers. The job (as reported, not an official description): Tax / Assurance Associate work from a delivery centre: preparing and reviewing client data, workpapers and returns with Excel, under a manager's review.
Verified profile
Last verified Tue Nov 03 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) · 3 sources
View sources
- ey.com/en_in/about-us (fetched 3 Nov 2026)
- ~/ops-archive/research/management-companies-2026-11/big4-consulting.md (section 2, LOW-MEDIUM)
- ~/ops-archive/research/management-companies-2026-11/recruiters-ranked.md (SJCC 54, Seshadripuram 24)