I also vote FARE is more difficult.  I have not taken REG yet but am having a much easier time studying for REG than I did FARE.  I agree with tesfa that FARE is just alot of material.  I put 6 weeks into studying for FARE and will be repeating later this year.

Thanks for the responses! 

This will help me plan which one to take first and how to plan my calendar.  My wife is expecting a baby around Thanksgiving, so I might want to get the hardest one out of the way first.

Between this thread and another thread I posted, FAR has 5 votes and REG only has 1. 

tesfa wrote: I would say FARE. It is the core of accountancy and there is just too much material to cover..... and the exam was HARD!! I had to use other supplemental materials like accounting textbooks in addition to Becker materials to keep the concept in mind and be able to tackle the questions better. I studied like crazy for over three months and I was not confident enough when I sat for the exam. I am preparing for REG now and it is nothing like FARE.

CPAcrazy wrote: I also vote FARE is more difficult.  I have not taken REG yet but am having a much easier time studying for REG than I did FARE.  I agree with tesfa that FARE is just alot of material.  I put 6 weeks into studying for FARE and will be repeating later this year.

FAR is harder.  If for no other reason than it has quite a bit more material than any other section.  REG was the second easiest for me, behind AUD.  Half of it, the business law and ethics portions, are pure memory and easily comprehended.  The tax has some difficult parts, but if you do your own taxes every year, you have a really good head start as it just builds upon what you already know.  I felt that the only truly difficult topic in this section was the gift/estate tax portion.  AMT was pretty challenging as well.  With adequate study, you should grasp the rest fairly quickly.

I concur

REG section gives you no extra time to "dilly dally" around on the exam.  You have 3 hours and that's it.  I've shared that business law is giving me a hard time - just a slow learning process for me. 

I still have to practice writing memos.