Lumenary Prep

Uniform CPA Examination, Tax Compliance and Planning (Discipline section)

CPA Exam: Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP)

Individual, entity and gift tax compliance and planning, from the Code and the IRS's own publications.

AI-drafted · awaiting expert reviewUniform CPA Examination Blueprints effective January 1, 2026, TCP section (the Blueprints effective January 1, 2027 make no revisions to TCP), for the Discipline testing windows from July 2026 through June 2027 (January 1–31 and April 1–30, 2027 are the next). Tax law: the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury regulations as they apply to tax year 2026, including Public Law 119-21 of July 4, 2025 (H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, whose tax provisions the IRS now calls the Working Families Tax Cuts). Under the AICPA's Policy on New Pronouncements, Code and regulation changes become testable in the calendar quarter beginning six months after the later of their effective or enactment date; for Public Law 119-21 the AICPA's Board of Examiners decided that provisions with 2024 and 2025 effective dates, including those for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, became testable in REG and TCP on July 1, 2026, with the Act's other provisions following the general rule. Lessons note where 2025 and 2026 rules differ. Form names and line references come from the 2025 IRS forms, instructions and publications (the latest final editions); 2026 inflation-adjusted amounts come from Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Notice 2025-67 and Rev. Proc. 2025-19. The blueprint says inflation-indexed amounts are not tested from memory, so questions supply them. Facts verified on official sites on 9 November 2026.

A complete, original course for the Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP) Discipline section of the CPA Exam, built on the AICPA's TCP blueprint area by area: individuals and personal financial planning (equity compensation and AMT items, the kiddie tax, below-market loans and pay earned abroad, deduction timing, FSAs and HSAs, estimated tax, charitable gifts of property, at-risk and passive loss limits, gift tax, retirement plans, investments, education funding, insurance and beneficiary designations); entity compliance (C corporation losses, consolidated returns, contributions, distributions, liquidations and international sourcing; S corporation and partnership basis, distributions, elections and ownership changes; trusts; tax-exempt organizations); entity planning (choice of entity, formation and liquidation compared, C and S corporation planning, state apportionment, estimated tax); and property transactions (like-kind exchanges, involuntary conversions, §1231 and recapture, §1244 stock, installment sales, related parties and imputed interest). Lessons teach from the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury regulations and IRS publications, with worked computations, form references, common traps and self-checks. Practice questions in the exam's formats, case sets modelled on task-based simulations with typed numeric answers, and a full-length practice exam that mirrors TCP's five testlets and blueprint weights all come with full explanations. Use it alongside the AICPA's published blueprint and sample test.

About the exam

Syllabus

23 lessons, 243 practice questions and 1 timed practice exam.

Getting Started

  1. How the TCP section works

    The CPA Exam's three Core sections and three Disciplines, TCP's five testlets (68 multiple-choice questions and 7 task-based simulations in four hours), breaks, scoring, the quarterly Discipline windows and score release, the four blueprint areas and their weights, and the AICPA's rule for when new tax law, including Public Law 119-21, becomes testable.

    1. How the CPA Exam and the TCP section workFree sample35 min

Area I: Individuals and Personal Financial Planning (30–40%)

  1. Individuals: income, deductions, timing and charitable planning

    Blueprint Area I.A: equity compensation and the items that drive alternative minimum taxable income; the kiddie tax, below-market loans and pay earned abroad; standard versus itemized deductions, timing income and deductions when rates or law change, FSAs and HSAs, estimated tax and the underpayment penalty; and choosing which property to give to charity.

    1. Equity compensation and the alternative minimum tax(included with the course)50 min
    2. Special income situations: the kiddie tax, below-market loans and pay earned abroad(included with the course)45 min
    3. Year-end planning, FSAs and HSAs, and estimated tax(included with the course)55 min
    4. Charitable gifts of property(included with the course)45 min

  2. At-risk and passive losses; gift tax

    Blueprint Area I.B and I.C: the order in which basis, at-risk and passive activity rules limit a loss, rental real estate with active participation, netting passive income and losses, freeing suspended losses on a disposition; and the unified transfer tax system, the annual exclusion, marital and charitable deductions, gift splitting, taxable gifts, Form 709 and choosing which property to give.

    1. At-risk and passive activity loss limitsFree sample55 min
    2. Gift tax compliance and planning(included with the course)50 min

  3. Personal financial planning

    Blueprint Area I.D: traditional and Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, annuities and other employer plans compared; investment risk and after-tax return on equities, corporate bonds and municipal bonds; funding education with qualified tuition programs, loans, grants and scholarships; life, long-term care and umbrella insurance; and how ownership and beneficiary designations move assets at death.

    1. Retirement plans in personal financial planning(included with the course)50 min
    2. Investments, education funding, insurance and ownership(included with the course)55 min

Area II: Entity Tax Compliance (30–40%)

  1. C corporations

    Blueprint Area II.A: net operating and capital losses and the section 382 limit after an ownership change; consolidated returns and intercompany transactions; contributions of noncash property and shareholder loans; nonliquidating and liquidating distributions and earnings and profits; and the sourcing of income, controlled foreign corporations, branches, subsidiaries and permanent establishment.

    1. C corporation losses and consolidated returns(included with the course)55 min
    2. Contributions to C corporations and shareholder loans(included with the course)50 min
    3. C corporation distributions, earnings and profits, and liquidations(included with the course)55 min
    4. International tax concepts for corporations(included with the course)50 min

  2. S corporations and partnerships

    Blueprint Area II.B and II.C, with the partnership planning of Area III.D: S corporation stock and debt basis, property contributions and distributions, and allocating income when a shareholder sells; partnership contributions, liabilities and outside basis; distributions, guaranteed payments and other partner transactions, partnership elections, and sales of partnership interests with the section 754 adjustment.

    1. S corporation shareholders: basis, contributions, distributions and sales(included with the course)55 min
    2. Partnership contributions, liabilities and outside basis(included with the course)50 min
    3. Partnership distributions, payments to partners and ownership changes(included with the course)55 min

  3. Trusts and tax-exempt organizations

    Blueprint Area II.D and II.E: simple, complex, grantor and revocable trusts; allocating receipts between income and corpus; trust accounting income, distributable net income, the distribution deduction and taxable income; qualifying for and losing section 501(c)(3) status; and unrelated business income.

    1. Trusts, fiduciary accounting income and distributable net income(included with the course)50 min
    2. Tax-exempt organizations: section 501(c)(3) status and unrelated business income(included with the course)40 min

Area III: Entity Tax Planning (10–20%)

  1. Entity tax planning

    Blueprint Area III: choosing an entity from its legal and tax characteristics, comparing formations and liquidations across entity types; C corporation planning (loss carryovers, timing when rates or law change, estimated tax, state and local apportionment and location); and S corporation planning (built-in gains tax, terminating the election, distributing accumulated earnings and profits first, shareholder loans).

    1. Choice of entity: formation, operation and liquidation compared(included with the course)50 min
    2. C and S corporation tax planning(included with the course)55 min

Area IV: Property Transactions (10–20%)

  1. Property transactions

    Blueprint Area IV: like-kind exchanges and involuntary conversions (realized, recognized and deferred gain, and replacement basis); the character of gains and losses, section 1231 netting, section 1245 and 1250 recapture, unrecaptured section 1250 gain and section 1244 losses; installment sales; related parties, constructive ownership and imputed interest.

    1. Like-kind exchanges and involuntary conversions(included with the course)55 min
    2. Character of gains and losses: section 1231, recapture and section 1244(included with the course)55 min
    3. Installment sales, related parties and imputed interest(included with the course)55 min

Practice exams

  • TCP Practice Exam 1 (full length)104 questions · 240 minutesIncluded with the course

Free official resources

Use these alongside the course. They are free, and they are the final word.

  • Uniform CPA Examination BlueprintsThe AICPA's published blueprints (effective January 1, 2026 and January 1, 2027), the Policy on New Pronouncements and the notice on testing H.R. 1. Read the TCP section introduction and blueprint pages; this course follows them topic by topic.
  • CPA Exam sample testThe AICPA's sample test in the real exam software, with questions from every section including TCP. Use it to practise the interface, the spreadsheet and the exhibits; it is not scored and is not a readiness measure.
  • CPA Exam FAQsTestlets, breaks, pretest questions, the spreadsheet application, scoring and the sample test, from the AICPA.
  • Score release datesDiscipline testing windows and target score release dates. Check it before you schedule; dates can change.
  • CPA Exam Candidate Guide (NASBA)Applying, scheduling, test-day rules, breaks, retakes and credit rules by jurisdiction.
  • Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)Find your board for eligibility, fees, credit periods and licensing rules, which vary by jurisdiction.
  • Internal Revenue Code (Title 26)The current Code from the Office of the Law Revision Counsel, including Public Law 119-21's amendments. TCP's research tasks use Code and regulation excerpts, so get used to reading the statute.
  • Treasury regulations (26 CFR) on eCFRThe current income tax regulations, updated daily.
  • Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 inflation-adjusted amountsThe IRS's 2026 rate tables and indexed amounts, with a summary of what Public Law 119-21 changed. You will not be tested on memorizing them, but they help you read questions.
  • Working Families Tax Cuts (IRS)The IRS's guidance index for Public Law 119-21's tax provisions.

Lumenary Prep is not affiliated with or endorsed by the AICPA, NASBA or any state board of accountancy. Only a state board of accountancy grants the CPA license. The AICPA's blueprints and standards, and the FASB's, GASB's, PCAOB's and COSO's materials, are copyrighted: this course explains them in its own words and links to the official text. Every source this course cites.