CA Final Indirect Tax (Paper 5): Syllabus, ICAI Study Material and Classes

Where indirect tax fits in CA Final

Paper 5 sits in Group II with Paper 4, Direct Tax Laws & International Taxation, 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 GST and customs 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 5 is on Wednesday, 11 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.

The paper builds on what you studied at Intermediate, where Paper 3, Taxation, has an income-tax section and a GST section (ICAI prospectus). Customs law and the Foreign Trade Policy are not part of the Intermediate paper, so Part II is new material at Final.

Notes written for the old syllabus

Under the earlier scheme the same subject was Paper 8: Indirect Tax Laws, split 75 marks for GST and 25 marks for Customs & FTP (ICAI Board of Studies syllabus, 2021). The current Paper 5 gives 80 marks to GST and 20 to Customs & FTP. Notes or recordings labelled "Paper 8" were also written for older amendments, so use them only alongside the current study material and Statutory Update.

What the paper tests

ICAI's syllabus sets one objective for each part. In GST, you should be able to analyse and interpret the provisions of the law and recommend solutions to case scenarios. In Customs & FTP, you should understand the customs laws and the Foreign Trade Policy and be able to analyse and interpret their provisions.

• 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 5 is closed-book (FAQ, Q 4.8).
• Skill levels: ICAI's skill assessment grid for Paper 5 differs by part (ICAI prospectus):

In GST, most marks therefore go to applying the law to a set of facts. Customs & FTP puts more weight on knowing the provisions, and ICAI gives it no evaluation-and-synthesis share.

How the May 2026 paper was set

ICAI's May 2026 Paper 5 and its suggested answers show the pattern in practice:

• Part I, MCQs (30 marks): 15 questions of 2 marks each. Questions 1 to 12 were set on two integrated case scenarios of six questions each, both on GST; Questions 13 to 15 stood alone: one on the pre-deposit for a GST Appellate Tribunal appeal and two on customs (baggage and provisional assessment).
• Part II, descriptive (70 marks): six questions, of which Question 1 (14 marks, a GST computation) was compulsory and candidates answered any four of the other five. The other questions were split into parts of 2 to 6 marks, and working notes count as part of the answer. Customs valuation, warehousing and the EPCG scheme under the Foreign Trade Policy appeared in Part II.

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, groups each part of Paper 5 into sections. The percentages are shares of that part.

Part I: Goods and Services Tax (80 marks)

The syllabus covers the CGST Act, 2017 and the IGST Act, 2017. It states that the entire CGST and IGST laws are included at Final: any provision not named below falls under "Other provisions", and any new chapter added to the Acts joins the syllabus.

Part II: Customs & FTP (20 marks)

Part II covers the Customs Act, 1962, the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and the Foreign Trade Policy.

Sources: ICAI Final Paper 5 syllabus (Parts I and II); ICAI section-wise weightage, Final Course (26 October 2023).

What is excluded for November 2026

ICAI's Study Guidelines for November 2026, printed in the November 2026 RTP, exclude these from Part I:

• the rates of tax prescribed for supply of goods and of services (the rates used to compute tax under the composition levy remain in the syllabus);
• exemptions for supply of goods;
• value of supply where Kerala Flood Cess applies;
• input tax credit determination and reversal for real estate projects, and reversal of credit of additional customs duty on gold dore bar;
• transitional provisions.

There are no exclusions listed for Part II. ICAI publishes Study Guidelines for each exam. For November 2026 they are printed in the November 2026 RTP; the lists for earlier exams (September 2025 to May 2026) are on ICAI's Study Guidelines page. Check the list for your own exam.

ICAI study material for Paper 5

The Board of Studies publishes the Paper 5 study material as chapter-wise PDFs on its Paper 5 page and the BoS Knowledge Portal, in English and in Hindi medium. The September 2025 edition is the one ICAI lists for the November 2026 exam. It has four modules:

• Module 1 (GST): Chapters 1 to 6, from supply and charge of GST to place, time and value of supply.
• Module 2 (GST): Chapters 7 to 13: input tax credit, registration, invoices, accounts and e-way bill, payment of tax, e-commerce transactions and returns.
• Module 3 (GST): Chapters 14 to 24: imports and exports under GST, refunds, job work, assessment and audit, inspection, demands, liability in certain cases, offences and penalties with ethical aspects, appeals, advance ruling and miscellaneous provisions.
• Module 4 (Customs & FTP): eight chapters, from levy and exemptions, types of duty, classification and valuation to import and export procedures, warehousing, refund and the Foreign Trade Policy.

ICAI has published a revised corrigendum to the printed September 2025 edition; mark its changes in your copy. After you register for the Final course, ICAI emails login details for ordering printed study material through its CDS portal (FAQ, Q 4.4). When we checked on 7 October 2026, ICAI's Paper 5 page already listed study material "Applicable for May 2027 & November 2027 Examinations", so if you are preparing for 2027, start from that set.

Statutory Update for November 2026

The study material's GST part reflects the law as amended by the Finance Act, 2024 and Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024, effective up to 30 April 2025. The Statutory Update for November 2026 adds the significant notifications and circulars issued from 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2026, chapter by chapter. For the November 2026 exam, the CGST, IGST and customs laws as amended by the Finance Act, 2025 apply, including amendments effective up to 30 April 2026. Examples from the update:

• fast-track GST registration for low-risk applicants and small taxpayers (rules 9A and 14A of the CGST Rules);
• appeals to the GST Appellate Tribunal involving up to ₹50 lakh and no question of law may be heard by a single member (new rule 110A);
• the Customs (Finalization of Provisional Assessment) Regulations, 2025;
• the Baggage Rules, 2026, which replace the Baggage Rules, 2016.

ICAI also lists provisions that are on the statute book but not yet in force, and so not examinable in November 2026: the Finance Act, 2023 changes to section 65 and the new section 65A of the Customs Act, and the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 changes to sections 2(4), 95 and 102 to 106 and the new sections 101A to 101C of the CGST Act.

RTP, mock tests, past papers and suggested answers

• Revision Test Paper: the November 2026 RTP for Group II includes Paper 5: MCQs on case scenarios and descriptive questions, with suggested answers based on the law up to 30 April 2026. ICAI advises reading the study material and Statutory 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 5 tests were on 19 September and 3 October 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 5 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 5. Those answers follow the law as it stood on 31 October 2025, the cut-off for that exam, so check them against later amendments.

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

Indirect 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.

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 IDT classes

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

• Does the course teach from ICAI's current study material and cover the Statutory Update for your attempt, with its law cut-off date (30 April 2026 for November 2026)?
• If the lectures were recorded for an earlier attempt or for old-scheme Paper 8, how are later amendments, such as the Baggage Rules, 2026, added?
• Does it give Customs & FTP proper time? Part II is only 20 marks, but it is new at Final and appeared in both the MCQs and the descriptive questions in May 2026.
• Will you practise GST computations 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?