Discipline section study guide

TCP CPA Exam Study Guide: Format, Topics, and Study Plan

Learn tax compliance and planning, connect entity and owner consequences, and build your study plan.

Quick answer

Tax Compliance and Planning is one of the three Discipline choices. It covers individual compliance and personal financial planning, entity compliance, entity planning, and property transactions. TCP asks you to evaluate alternatives and timing as well as compute a tax consequence. Use this guide to understand the exam, plan what to learn, and find explanations for each TCP topic.

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TCP format and score weight

TCP is a 4-hour Discipline section. Its two MCQ testlets contain 34 and 34 questions. Its three TBS testlets contain 2, 3, 2 tasks. The testlets total 68 MCQs and 7 TBSs.

Section type

Discipline

Testing time

4 hours

Multiple-choice

68 MCQs · 50%

Simulations

7 TBSs · 50%

Current TCP content areas

Use these ranges to allocate coverage, then adjust for your own practice results. The ranges do not predict the exact number of questions or tasks on an individual exam.

Area	Official content area	Score allocation
I	Tax Compliance and Planning for Individuals and Personal Financial Planning	30-40%
II	Entity Tax Compliance	30-40%
III	Entity Tax Planning	10-20%
IV	Property Transactions (disposition of assets)	10-20%

Official exam sources

Blueprint tasks are representative, not exhaustive. The number of listed tasks does not establish content weight or predict the exact questions a candidate will receive.

Open the official Blueprint Learn how to use the Blueprint Review all CPA Exam sections

Tax rules for your exam

Tax rules depend on your exam date. Confirm which provisions fall within the TCP Blueprint and are eligible for testing before choosing study materials.

Read the official AICPA notice

Free TCP PDF pack

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Your TCP study sequence

This is CPAPass study guidance, not an official timetable. Adjust the time you spend at each stage to your starting knowledge, schedule, and understanding of the material.

Stage 1 of 5

Tax foundations and scope

Review the individual, entity, and property foundations that support tax planning. Use videos and lectures to refresh the concepts, and confirm the rules eligible for your exam date.

What to produce: A learning map showing the tax foundations to revisit and the planning topics to build on.
Move on when: You can explain the relevant tax rule and identify the facts needed before comparing alternatives.

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1. Tax foundations and scope

Review the individual, entity, and property foundations that support tax planning. Use videos and lectures to refresh the concepts, and confirm the rules eligible for your exam date.

What to produce: A learning map showing the tax foundations to revisit and the planning topics to build on.

Move on when: You can explain the relevant tax rule and identify the facts needed before comparing alternatives.

2. Individual planning

Learn how timing, retirement, charitable giving, and estate and gift considerations affect individual planning. Reinforce the relationships and limitations with flashcards.

What to produce: A comparison of individual planning choices, assumptions, and their tax and cash effects.

Move on when: You can explain how changing a timing or personal-finance assumption changes the comparison.

3. Entities and owners

Study entity choice, transactions, basis, and distributions. Follow worked examples that separate the business consequences from the owner consequences.

What to produce: Separate entity and owner workpapers with basis and distribution rollforwards.

Move on when: You can trace a transaction through the entity and owner without mixing their calculations.

4. Property and alternatives

Learn to compare property transactions, loss limitations, and planning alternatives. Follow the applicable sequence of rules and state the assumptions behind each option.

What to produce: An alternatives worksheet showing tax effects, cash effects, and relevant non-tax constraints.

Move on when: You can explain why one fact changes the result and why a limitation applies at a particular step.

5. Integrated preparation

Work through timed MCQs and simulations with multiple periods, documents, and alternatives. Return to the lesson when the underlying rule or planning tradeoff is unclear.

What to produce: A supported recommendation with calculations, assumptions, and a comparison of alternatives.

Move on when: You can explain both the result and the conditions that could change the recommendation.

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Answer TCP questions

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Explore TCP topic guides

Find the explanation you need for your next study session.

Individual and estate planning

Connect personal financial choices to tax consequences.

Retirement plan taxation Charitable contribution planning

View 4 more guides

Gift tax annual exclusion Estate tax Estate planning techniques Trust taxation

Entities and owners

Compare entity choices and follow owner-level effects.

Choice of business entity Section 754 election

View 1 more guide

Related-party transactions

Property transactions

Compare timing and treatment of property dispositions.

Installment sales Depreciation recapture

View 2 more guides

Involuntary conversions Imputed interest

Basis and loss limitations

Track basis and apply the relevant loss restrictions.

Basis rules At-risk limitations

View 1 more guide

Passive activity losses

TCP study FAQs

How should I prepare for TCP if I have studied REG?

Use your REG knowledge as a foundation, then review the TCP Blueprint to identify the compliance and planning topics you still need to learn. Check the rules eligible for your exam date and practice explaining assumptions and alternatives as well as calculating the tax result.

How much time should I give each study stage?

Adjust the stages to your starting knowledge, available study time, and understanding of the material. Use each stage's output and move-on check to decide what to revisit. A fixed number of weeks is not a guarantee of readiness.

Can I try TCP practice before creating an account?

Yes. The public TCP practice questions and explanations are available without registration. The MCQ and TBS PDF samples are requested separately by email. Create a free CPAPass account to learn and prepare with videos, lectures, flashcards, and practice questions in one platform.

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