TCP CPA Exam (2026): What Is on Tax Compliance and Planning
Kyle Ashcraft, CPA · 2019 CPA Exam Scores · 95 FAR · 98 BEC · 91 REG · 90 AUD
I should say this first: I have not sat TCP. I took the four-part exam in 2019, before Disciplines existed, so I cannot describe the TCP exam from experience. I did sit REG and scored a 91, and I teach REG, so I read the AICPA's 2026 blueprint for TCP closely. This page is what that reading shows.
TCP stands for Tax Compliance and Planning. It is one of three Discipline sections, and it picks up where REG leaves off. If REG is "what does the tax code say," TCP is more "here is a client, what should they do."
Quick answer: TCP is a four-hour section with 68 multiple-choice questions and 7 task-based simulations, each worth half of your score. It has four content areas: individuals and personal financial planning (30 to 40%), entity tax compliance (30 to 40%), entity tax planning (10 to 20%) and property transactions (10 to 20%). Most of it is application, about 55 to 65%, so it rewards working problems more than memorizing. Take it right after REG if you can.
On this page
Last updated October 2026. Format, area weights, skill levels and topic lists are from the AICPA Uniform CPA Examination Blueprints effective January 2026. Scheduling rules are from the NASBA CPA Exam FAQ as read on October 12, 2026, and can vary by state board. Task counts below are counts of the representative tasks the blueprint lists, which the AICPA says are not an all-inclusive list.
How is the TCP section built?
| TCP at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Time | 4 hours |
| Multiple-choice questions | 68, in two testlets of 34 |
| Task-based simulations | 7, in three testlets of 2, 3 and 2 |
| Score weight | 50% multiple choice, 50% simulations |
| Remembering and understanding | 5 to 15% |
| Application | 55 to 65% |
| Analysis | 25 to 35% |
You need a 75 on the 0 to 99 scale, and your score is not the percentage of questions you got right. The skill rows tell you how to prepare. Only 5 to 15% is recall. Most of the section hands you facts and asks for a number or a decision, and a quarter to a third asks you to review work and judge it.
Simulations are half the score. In a tax section, that means working schedules, not just answering questions about them.
What does TCP cover?
| Content area | Weight |
|---|---|
| I. Individuals and Personal Financial Planning | 30 to 40% |
| II. Entity Tax Compliance | 30 to 40% |
| III. Entity Tax Planning | 10 to 20% |
| IV. Property Transactions (disposition of assets) | 10 to 20% |
Area I: Individuals and Personal Financial Planning
Four groups. The first is income and planning: equity compensation, alternative minimum taxable income, imputed interest on below-market loans, the tax on a child's unearned income, the timing of income and expenses, health savings and flexible spending accounts, itemized versus standard deductions, estimated tax payments, and donating noncash property. The second is the passive activity and at-risk loss limits. The third is gift tax, including the unified transfer tax system and calculating taxable gifts. The fourth is personal financial planning: retirement plans, investment risk, education funding, insurance, and what asset ownership and beneficiary designations mean for an estate.
Area II: Entity Tax Compliance
Five entity types. For C corporations: net operating and capital loss use, transactions between a shareholder and the corporation, consolidated returns and international tax issues. For S corporations: shareholder basis and shareholder transactions. For partnerships: partner basis, elections, transactions between a partner and the partnership, and ownership changes. Then trusts, including simple, complex and grantor trusts and how income and deductions are allocated, and tax-exempt organizations, including obtaining exempt status and unrelated business income.
Area III: Entity Tax Planning
The planning side of the same entities: forming and liquidating a business entity, and planning for C corporations, S corporations and partnerships. Here the question changes from "what is the tax" to "which choice produces less tax."
Area IV: Property Transactions
Nontaxable dispositions such as like-kind exchanges and involuntary conversions, the amount and character of gains and losses and how they net, and related-party transactions, including how to test direct and indirect ownership and imputed interest.
How is TCP different from REG?
The AICPA advises taking a Discipline right after its related Core section, and for TCP that is REG. A lot of TCP is REG's ground seen from a deeper angle: C corporation, S corporation and partnership basis, individual loss limits and property transactions all show up in both.
But several TCP topics do not appear in the REG blueprint at all, going by its group and task lists: trusts, equity compensation, alternative minimum taxable income, consolidated returns, international income sourcing and controlled foreign corporations, related-party rules and imputed interest, and like-kind exchanges. REG's blueprint touches gifts only from the recipient's side, as basis and as an income exclusion, while TCP tests the gift tax itself. And TCP adds a planning layer on every entity that REG does not ask for.
So REG is a foundation, not a rehearsal. If REG felt comfortable, you have the vocabulary, but you still have to learn the topics above.
Where is TCP hard?
Count the representative tasks the blueprint lists for TCP. There are 98: 60 at the application level, 24 at remembering and understanding, and 14 at analysis.
| Content area | Recall | Application | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. Individuals and Personal Financial Planning | 9 | 14 | 2 |
| II. Entity Tax Compliance | 14 | 26 | 3 |
| III. Entity Tax Planning | 0 | 10 | 6 |
| IV. Property Transactions | 1 | 10 | 3 |
Two things stand out. First, Entity Tax Planning has no recall tasks at all, and 6 of its 16 tasks are analysis. It is the smallest-weight entity area and the one that asks the most of your judgment. Second, look at what the analysis tasks actually say. Most are written as a review: review a partner's basis schedule and its source data to confirm the transactions are accurate, review a shareholder's stock and debt basis schedule, review a schedule of asset dispositions to check the amount and character of each gain or loss, review loan documents between a shareholder and a corporation.
That is the work of a tax reviewer checking someone else's return, and it suggests the simulations may often hand you a schedule and ask whether it is right.
My read of the blueprint: basis is the thread that runs through TCP. It appears for S corporation shareholders and for partners, and it is where the review-style tasks live. If you can build and check a basis schedule, a large share of the section opens up.
How would I study for TCP?
I have not sat it, so this is how I would plan from the blueprint, not a tested method.
- Start with basis. Build shareholder and partner basis schedules until they feel routine, then practice finding an error in one that someone else built.
- Work problems more than you read. About 55 to 65% of the section is application, so the learning happens when you compute.
- Learn the topics REG did not teach. Trusts, equity compensation, gift tax, consolidated returns, related-party rules and the planning areas are new, so give them real time.
- Do planning by comparison. For entity selection, formation and liquidation, compute the result under each choice and compare. The blueprint asks for exactly that.
- Schedule it for the first month of a quarter. NASBA's FAQ says Discipline sections can only be scheduled in the first month of each quarter, so a missed window can cost you three months. Check your state board.
Is TCP the right Discipline for you?
TCP tends to suit candidates who work in tax, finished REG comfortably, or like taking a rule and a set of facts and producing a number. If you work in financial reporting or IT audit, BAR or ISC may fit better. My comparison of BAR, ISC and TCP lays the three side by side, and the 30-month credit window page covers how long you have to finish. For the order of sections, see the best order to take the CPA exams.
I would not choose by published pass rates. They describe who sat the exam, not how hard it is for you.
What does Maxwell CPA Review include for TCP?
TCP is part of the same course as the Core sections. Since I have not sat TCP myself, I built it from the blueprint, so read the specs with that in mind.
| Discipline | Video | MCQs | TBS | Also |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TCP | 5 hrs | 700 | 15 | Final review outline video |
Sources: AICPA Uniform CPA Examination Blueprints, effective January 2026 (format, weights, skill levels, topic lists and representative tasks for TCP and REG); AICPA, "Seven things to know about the new CPA Exam" (Discipline choice and order); NASBA CPA Exam FAQ (Discipline scheduling). Read October 12 to 14, 2026. Task counts are my own count of the blueprint's representative tasks.
Frequently asked questions
What is the TCP section of the CPA exam?
TCP is Tax Compliance and Planning, one of three Discipline sections. It is four hours with 68 multiple-choice questions and 7 task-based simulations, each worth half your score. It covers individual tax and personal financial planning, entity tax compliance and planning, and property transactions.
What is on the TCP exam?
Individuals and Personal Financial Planning (30 to 40%), Entity Tax Compliance (30 to 40%), Entity Tax Planning (10 to 20%) and Property Transactions (10 to 20%). Topics include trusts, equity compensation, gift tax, S corporation and partnership basis, consolidated returns, like-kind exchanges and related-party rules.
Is TCP harder than REG?
I cannot say from experience, since I have not sat TCP. TCP is more application-heavy (55 to 65%) and adds topics REG does not list, plus a planning layer on every entity. REG leans more on recall. Which is harder depends on your background.
When should I take TCP?
The AICPA recommends taking a Discipline right after its related Core section, which for TCP is REG. NASBA's FAQ says Discipline sections can only be scheduled in the first month of each quarter, so plan around that and check with your state board.
What score do I need to pass TCP?
A 75 on the 0 to 99 scale, as with every section. Your score is not the percentage of questions answered correctly.
Start with the free CPA 101 course
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Kyle Ashcraft, CPA scored 90 or above on every section of the CPA exam in 2019. He is the founder and sole instructor of Maxwell CPA Review, where he creates every lecture, textbook and study outline himself.
Reach him at MaxwellCPAreview@gmail.com.
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