CA Final Direct Tax Classes, Syllabus & Study Material

CA Final direct tax is Paper 4: Direct Tax Laws & International Taxation, a 100-mark, closed-book Group II paper in two parts, Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation, with international taxation carrying 30% to 35% of the marks (ICAI FAQs, Q 4.3 and Q 4.8; ICAI section-wise weightage). For the November 2026 exam, ICAI applies direct tax law as amended by the Finance Act, 2025 and changes made up to 30 April 2026 (assessment year 2026-27), taught through its September 2025 study material and Judicial Update (Revision Test Paper, November 2026). ICAI's Board of Studies also runs free live classes, mock tests and past papers for the paper.

Where direct tax fits in CA Final

Paper 4 sits in Group II with Paper 5, Indirect Tax Laws, and Paper 6, Integrated Business Solutions (FAQ, Q 4.3). ICAI's prospectus describes Paper 6 as a multi-disciplinary case study involving Papers 1 to 5, so direct tax can also come up there. The full list of papers, the passing marks and the conditions to sit the exam are in our guide to CA Final subjects under the new scheme.

CA Final exams are held twice a year, in May and November, from the May 2026 exam onwards (ICAI announcement, 6 April 2026). In the November 2026 exam, Paper 4 is on Monday, 9 November 2026, from 2 PM to 5 PM (ICAI Guidance Notes for Final, November 2026). The other papers' dates are in our CA Final exam timetable.

At Intermediate you studied income tax in Paper 3, Taxation, where Section A, Income-tax Law, is worth 50 marks (ICAI prospectus). Final goes further: the computation questions are about companies, trusts and other entities rather than individuals alone, and the paper adds tax administration, appeals and the taxation of cross-border transactions.

Notes written for the old syllabus

Under the earlier scheme the subject was Paper 7: Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation, split into Part I, Direct Tax Laws (70 marks), and Part II, International Taxation (30 marks), and International Taxation was also offered as a separate elective, Paper 6C (ICAI Board of Studies syllabus, 2021). The current syllabus does not fix marks for each part; ICAI's weightage gives international taxation 30% to 35%. Notes or recordings labelled "Paper 7" were also written for older Finance Acts, so use them only alongside the current study material.

What the paper tests

The objective of this paper

ICAI's syllabus sets two objectives for Paper 4:

to analyse and interpret the provisions of direct tax laws and recommend optimal solutions to practical problems in a tax-efficient manner; and
to apply direct tax laws and the concepts, principles and provisions of international taxation to recommend solutions to issues in cross-border transactions.

Question format

Question mix: 30 marks of case-scenario or case-study based MCQs and 70 marks of descriptive questions (FAQ, Q 4.7). ICAI's Guidance Notes for November 2026 add that each MCQ carries 1 or 2 marks and has four options, all MCQs are compulsory, there is no negative marking and no reasoning is needed.
Closed book: only Paper 6 is an open-book exam; Paper 4 is closed-book (FAQ, Q 4.8).
Language: you can choose to answer in Hindi or English, but the choice is made in the exam form for the whole group, not paper by paper (Guidance Notes, November 2026).
Skill levels: ICAI's skill assessment grid gives Paper 4 5%–10% comprehension and knowledge, 65%–70% analysis and application, and 20%–30% evaluation and synthesis (ICAI prospectus). Most marks therefore go to working out the tax position from a set of facts, and a fifth or more to choosing between options, such as which tax regime suits a company.

How the May 2026 paper was set

ICAI's May 2026 Paper 4 and its suggested answers show the pattern in practice. All questions related to assessment year 2026-27 unless a question said otherwise.

Part I, MCQs (30 marks): 15 questions of 2 marks each. Questions 1 to 12 were set on three integrated case studies: TDS and TCS on purchases, tour packages and foreign remittances; the dividend, interest and capital gains of a non-resident Indian citizen; and the tax on accreted income of a charitable trust. Questions 13 to 15 stood alone.
Part II, descriptive (70 marks): six questions, of which Question 1 (14 marks) was compulsory and candidates answered any four of the other five. Question 1 asked for a manufacturing company's total income and whether opting for the concessional rate under section 115BAA would pay. Other questions covered transfer pricing (an arm's length range from a set of comparables), business profits and the Mutual Agreement Procedure under the OECD and UN Model Tax Conventions, appeals, advance rulings and tax planning. Working notes count as part of the answer.

Syllabus and section weightage

ICAI's section-wise weightage for CA Final, issued on 26 October 2023 and applicable from the May 2024 exam until ICAI changes it, splits Paper 4 into three sections.

Section	Syllabus topics	Weightage
I	(i) Computing the income-tax liability of companies and other entities under the alternative tax regimes: general provisions, special tax regimes and tax planning to optimise the liability; (ii) special provisions for charitable and religious trusts and institutions, political parties and electoral trusts, business trusts, securitisation trusts, investment funds and other funds; (iii) anti-avoidance provisions; (iv) provisions on the tax challenges of digitalisation	40%–45% (item (i) 20%–23%; items (ii) to (iv) together 20%–22%)
II	Tax administration and appellate mechanism: deduction, collection and recovery of tax; income-tax authorities; assessment procedures; appeals, revision and dispute resolution; taxation of undisclosed income and undisclosed foreign income and assets; penalties, offences and prosecution; miscellaneous provisions; tax audit	20%–30%
III	International taxation: transfer pricing, non-resident taxation, double taxation relief and advance rulings under the Act; significant articles of the OECD and UN Model Tax Conventions; fundamentals of BEPS; application and interpretation of tax treaties; latest developments in international taxation	30%–35%

Sources: ICAI Final Paper 4 syllabus; ICAI section-wise weightage, Final Course (26 October 2023).

Two parts: direct tax laws and international taxation

Sections I and II make up Part I, Direct Tax Laws, and Section III is Part II, International Taxation, the way ICAI's November 2026 exam schedule lists the paper. Part II is not limited to treaties: transfer pricing, non-resident taxation, double taxation relief and advance rulings are taught under the Income-tax Act, while the OECD and UN models, BEPS and treaty interpretation are taught from the study material. For November 2026, ICAI says the content in the study material is what counts for the model conventions, treaty interpretation, BEPS and latest developments (RTP, November 2026).

The syllabus also says that topics can change each year through the annual Finance Act and that, when a new law replaces an existing one, the new law's corresponding provisions come into the syllabus from a date ICAI notifies. For November 2026, ICAI has published no list of excluded topics for Paper 4; its Study Guidelines for that attempt cover only Paper 5.

ICAI study material for Paper 4

The Board of Studies publishes the Paper 4 study material as chapter-wise PDFs on its Paper 4 page and the BoS Knowledge Portal, with a Hindi-medium version. For the November 2026 exam, ICAI names the September 2025 edition, plus the November 2026 RTP and the Judicial Update for November 2026. It has four modules:

Module 1: Chapters 1 to 8, from basic concepts and exempt incomes through business income, capital gains and other sources to clubbing, set-off and carry forward of losses, and deductions.
Module 2: Chapters 9 to 12: assessment of various entities; trusts, political parties and other special entities; tax planning, tax avoidance and tax evasion; taxation of digital transactions.
Module 3: Chapters 13 to 20: deduction, collection and recovery of tax; income-tax authorities; assessment; appeals and revision; dispute resolution; miscellaneous provisions; provisions to counteract unethical tax practices; tax audit and ethical compliances, plus questions based on significant select cases.
Module 4: Chapters 21 to 28: non-resident taxation, double taxation relief, advance rulings, transfer pricing, fundamentals of BEPS, application and interpretation of tax treaties, the model tax conventions and latest developments in international taxation.

After you register for the Final course, ICAI emails login details for ordering printed study material through its CDS portal (FAQ, Q 4.4).

Law cut-off and Judicial Update for November 2026

The September 2025 edition covers direct tax law as amended by the Finance Act, 2025 and notifications and circulars issued up to 31 July 2025. ICAI found no significant notifications or circulars between 1 August 2025 and 30 April 2026 apart from Notification No. 54/2026 of 31 March 2026, so it has not issued a Statutory Update for Paper 4 for November 2026. That notification is explained in the Judicial Update, under the Supreme Court's ruling in AAR (Income-tax) v. Tiger Global International II Holdings (2026) 485 ITR 214 (SC). ICAI asks you to read the study material together with the Judicial Update (updated 13 August 2026), which sets out the facts, analysis and decision of recent court rulings on topics in the syllabus.

Preparing for May 2027 or later: the Income-tax Act, 2025

When we checked on 7 October 2026, ICAI's Paper 4 page already listed study material "Applicable for May 2027 and Nov 2027 Examinations". Revised Chapters 1 to 12 (Modules 1 and 2) had been posted; Modules 3 and 4 (Chapters 13 to 28) were not yet listed. The new Chapter 1 explains that income tax is now governed by the Income-tax Act, 2025, which came into force on 1 April 2026 and repealed the Income-tax Act, 1961, with rates for tax year 2026-27 set by the Finance Act, 2026. If you are writing in 2027, use the new chapters as ICAI posts them, check the RTP and applicability notice for your attempt, and expect the new Act's section numbers and its term "tax year" throughout.

RTP, mock tests, past papers and suggested answers

Revision Test Paper: the November 2026 RTP for Group II includes Paper 4, with case-scenario MCQs and descriptive questions with answers. ICAI advises reading the study material and Judicial Update first and attempting the RTP on your own.
Mock Test Papers: for the November 2026 exam, the Board of Studies ran two series in physical or virtual mode. The Paper 4 tests were on 17 September and 30 September 2026, from 2 PM to 5 PM, and question papers and answer keys are on the BoS Knowledge Portal (BoS announcement, 10 August 2026).
Past papers: ICAI's Final course question papers page has the new-scheme Paper 4 from May 2024, November 2024, May 2025, September 2025, January 2026 and May 2026.
Suggested answers: ICAI's suggested answers for May 2026 include Paper 4. Older answers were written for earlier Finance Acts and assessment years, so recheck rates and thresholds before relying on them.

For a routine that uses these free resources across all papers, see our guide to self-study for CA at home.

Direct tax classes: ICAI's free classes and paid options

ICAI's Board of Studies runs its own classes for CA Final students and describes the Live Virtual Classes and Live Virtual Revisionary Classes as free.

Programme	For exam	Paper 4 sessions	ICAI notice
Live Virtual Classes (LVC)	May 2027 and November 2027	Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 6 PM to 9 PM, from 21 July 2026; pre-registration required	13 July 2026
Live Virtual Revisionary Classes	November 2026	Mondays and Sundays, 6 PM to 9 PM, from 6 July 2026	5 June 2026
Success at CA Exam sessions	November 2026	Virtual sessions by BoS faculty from 6 October 2026; schedule on the BoS Knowledge Portal	10 August 2026

For both class programmes, ICAI lists one-to-one interaction over Zoom, doubt-resolution sessions, notes, assignments and MCQs, and unlimited access to recorded lectures. You join through the ICAI BoS mobile app, the BoS Knowledge Portal or ICAI's YouTube channel.

What to check before paying for DT classes

We don't rank teachers, and private direct tax classes differ in price, format and what they include. These are the questions we would ask before paying:

Does the course teach the law that applies to your attempt: the Finance Act, 2025 and assessment year 2026-27 for November 2026, or the Income-tax Act, 2025 for 2027 attempts?
If the lectures were recorded for an earlier attempt or for old-scheme Paper 7, how are later amendments and the Judicial Update added?
Does international taxation get proper time? It carries 30% to 35% of the paper, and transfer pricing and the model tax conventions both appeared in the May 2026 descriptive questions.
Will you practise full computations for companies and trusts and case-scenario MCQs on ICAI's past papers, RTPs and mock tests, not only theory?
Can you watch a sample lecture first, and are the lectures in the language, English or Hindi, that you will write the exam in?

CA Final Direct Tax and International Taxation (Paper 4): Syllabus, Study Material and Classes

Key points