CA Final DT Chapter-wise Weightage for May 2027: Marks Counted in 6 Papers

ICAI does not publish a CA Final DT chapter wise weightage, only ranges for the three sections of Paper 4. So I counted six Direct Tax papers, November 2024 to November 2026: 708 printed marks. Trusts and special entities, PGBP and TDS/TCS carried 260 of them (36.7%). With Non-Resident Taxation and Transfer Pricing, five chapters carried 376 (53.1%).

Just over half the printed DT marks came from five of ICAI's 28 chapters, and the May 2027 material keeps the same 28.

TL;DR

• Chapters 10, 3, 13, 21 and 24 carried 53.1% of the printed marks.
• Q1 was a 14-mark total-income computation from PGBP in all six papers.
• Tax Audit had 6 marks, Double Taxation Relief 6 and Advance Rulings 4 in every paper.
• International taxation took 34 to 36 of 118 printed marks in each paper.
• ICAI examines DT on the Income-tax Act, 2025 from May 2027; chapter numbers are unchanged.

Does ICAI publish a chapter-wise weightage for CA Final DT?

No. ICAI's section-wise weightage, issued on 26 October 2023 for May 2024 onwards, gives Paper 4 three ranges:

• Section I, 40% to 45%: 20% to 23% for computation of income of companies and other entities, and 20% to 22% for trusts and special entities, anti-avoidance and digitalisation together.
• Section II, tax administration and appeals: 20% to 30%.
• Section III, international taxation: 30% to 35%.

ICAI allows a deviation of up to plus or minus 5% in these ranges. Nothing splits a section between its chapters, so chapter marks have to be counted from the papers.

How did I count the six DT papers?

ICAI's suggested answers reprint every question with its marks. I used them for November 2024, May 2025, September 2025, January 2026 and May 2026. As on 13 November 2026, ICAI's question papers page had not hosted the November 2026 DT paper or its answers, so that one comes from our retyped copy.

• May 2024 is left out: ICAI's answers for it have Part II only.
• Each paper prints 118 marks, 30 MCQ and 88 descriptive. You write 100, because Q5(a) prints three 4-mark parts and you answer two.
• Each item went to one of the 28 chapters by its main issue. A few items were judgement calls of 2 to 4 marks each: the Equalisation Levy MCQ went to BEPS, the s.94B (1961 Act) MCQ to Transfer Pricing.
• Six MCQs had two accepted options or no printed key. I counted their printed marks.

Source: ICAI Final Paper 4 suggested answers, November 2024 to May 2026 (icai.org); November 2026 from our retyped copy. Gradehunt count.

Six papers, 118 printed marks each, every item in one chapter.

Which DT chapters carry the most marks?

Six-paper total, average per paper, papers it appeared in, and marks in ICAI's five hosted papers:

• Ch 10, trusts and special entities: 92, 15.3, 6 of 6, 78.
• Ch 3, PGBP: 88, 14.7, 6 of 6, 74.
• Ch 13, TDS/TCS: 80, 13.3, 6 of 6, 68.
• Ch 21, Non-Resident Taxation: 65, 10.8, 6 of 6, 52.
• Ch 24, Transfer Pricing: 51, 8.5, 6 of 6, 44.
• Ch 20, Tax Audit: 36, 6.0, 6 of 6, 30.
• Ch 22, Double Taxation Relief: 36, 6.0, 6 of 6, 30.
• Ch 15, Assessment Procedure: 31, 5.2, 6 of 6, 30.
• Ch 11, tax planning and GAAR: 28, 4.7, 6 of 6, 24.
• Ch 4, Capital Gains: 26, 4.3, 5 of 6, 22.
• Ch 19, counteracting unethical tax practices: 25, 4.2, 5 of 6, 20.
• Ch 23, Advance Rulings: 24, 4.0, 6 of 6, 20.
• Ch 16, Appeals and Revision: 23, 3.8, 5 of 6, 18.
• The rest: 16 each for Ch 9 and 27; 14 for Ch 5; 13 for Ch 25; 10 each for Ch 12 and 17; 9 for Ch 26; 4 each for Ch 7, 8 and 18; 3 for Ch 6.

Ch 1, 2, 14 and 28 had no question of their own. Ch 1 and 2 rules still sit inside other answers, such as an exempt income in a computation.

What about the five papers ICAI itself hosts?

Leave out November 2026 and the top five stay the same, in the same order: 316 of 590 marks (53.6%).

Trusts, PGBP and TDS/TCS led, then Non-Resident Taxation and Transfer Pricing, with or without November 2026.

How many DT marks are MCQs, and from which chapters?

Part I has 30 marks a paper, 180 in six. Ch 10 took 46 (25.6%) and had MCQ marks in all six papers. Then:

• Ch 21: 29; Ch 19: 21; Ch 24: 15; Ch 13: 14; Ch 15: 11; Ch 5: 10; Ch 12: 10.
• Ch 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 16, 17 and 25 shared the other 24.

Ch 20, 22 and 23 had no MCQ marks. Ch 19 took 21 of its 25 marks through MCQs.

Did the MCQ format change in November 2026?

Yes, in our copy: 23 MCQs, seven of 2 marks and sixteen of 1 mark. The five earlier papers had 15 MCQs of 2 marks.

A quarter of MCQ marks went to Ch 10, and Tax Audit, DTR and Advance Rulings came only as written answers.

Did the papers stay inside ICAI's section ranges?

Mostly. The chapter-to-section map is ours, and shares are of 118 printed marks, not 100, so the check is rough. ICAI range, six-paper share, single-paper low to high:

• I(i), Ch 1-9: 20% to 23%; 21.9%; 20.3% to 23.7%.
• I(ii)-(iv), Ch 10-12: 20% to 22%; 18.4%; 15.3% to 20.3%.
• Section I, Ch 1-12: 40% to 45%; 40.3%; 39.0% to 41.5%.
• II, Ch 13-20: 20% to 30%; 29.5%; 28.0% to 30.5%.
• III, Ch 21-28: 30% to 35%; 30.2%; 28.8% to 30.5%.

Only I(ii)-(iv) sat under its range over six papers, at 18.4%, inside ICAI's 5% note. International taxation took 30.2%.

Which chapters carried the same marks in every paper?

These are past counts, not a forecast.

• Q1, 14 compulsory marks, was a total-income computation from PGBP in all six. Five asked whether the company should opt for the concessional rates; September 2025 said to ignore s.115BAA of the 1961 Act.
• Tax Audit and Ethical Compliances had 6 marks, Double Taxation Relief 6 and Advance Rulings 4 in all six: 16 of 118 each time.

A PGBP Q1 and those fixed 16 marks appeared in every paper I counted.

Does the Income-tax Act, 2025 change this for May 2027?

The law changes; the chapter list does not. ICAI's announcement of 5 December 2025 applies the 2025 Act to Final Paper 4 from May 2027.

The study material for May and November 2027 (September 2026 edition, tax year 2026-27) keeps 28 chapters, numbered as before. Only Ch 7 has a new title, Set Off or Carry Forward.

ICAI's 2023 weightage says it applies till further changes are made, and I have used it here. The past questions were set on the 1961 Act, so practise them with 2025 Act sections. Our Income-tax Act, 2025 for CA Final post maps them.

For May 2027 the section numbers change. The 28 chapters stay, and ICAI's 2023 ranges hold until ICAI changes them.

How I would plan DT revision from these numbers

1. Rebuild Ch 3 company computations on the 2025 Act, with the concessional-rate comparison.
2. Finish Ch 10 and Ch 13 next. With Ch 3, they carried 260 of 708 marks.
3. Write one Transfer Pricing and one non-resident question each week.
4. Keep Tax Audit, DTR and Advance Rulings as short written answers.
5. Drill MCQ case sets for Ch 10, 21 and 19, which took 96 of 180 MCQ marks.
6. Write full papers in exam time and get them checked.

Our CA Final DT paper analysis reviews one attempt; our CA Final suggested answers post lists ICAI's answers.

The Gradehunt CA Final test series has DT chapter tests and full papers you write by hand and upload. Ex-examiners check each copy within 48 hours of upload, with step-wise marks, and your first paper is checked free.