CA Final IDT chapter-wise weightage & ABC analysis Nov 2026
Quick answer: CA Final IDT chapter-wise weightage, counted from ICAI's last four papers, is led by computation of GST liability (19–24 marks printed per paper, always the compulsory Question 1), then supply and charge including reverse charge and composition (4–13), appeals (5–7), offences and penalties (5–7), time of supply (2–9) and input tax credit (2–6). In customs, valuation (4–6) and baggage (2–4) came up every time. Together that is 236 of the 456 marks ICAI printed, about 52%. IDT is on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, so you have about five weeks.
ICAI publishes IDT weightage only by section, as a percentage range. It doesn't publish chapter-wise marks. So we went through ICAI's four most recent IDT papers (May 2025, September 2025, January 2026 and May 2026), question by question, and tagged each one to the chapter it actually tested. Every paper is linked below, so you can check any line yourself.
How to read these numbers
Each IDT paper prints 114 marks, but you answer only 100:
- Part I: 15 MCQs of 2 marks each, mostly in case scenarios, so 30 marks, all compulsory. ICAI's Mock Test Papers for Nov 2026 have 23 MCQs instead (16 of 1 mark, 7 of 2 marks), still 30 marks.
- Part II: six questions of 14 marks each. Question 1 is compulsory, and you answer any four of the other five.
So "time of supply had 9 marks" means 9 marks printed on the paper. If they sat in a question you could skip, you might never have written them.
Our sources are ICAI's own suggested answers for Paper 5:
- May 2025 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
- September 2025 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
- January 2026 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
- May 2026 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
Tagging a question to a chapter is our own reading. Any question that asks you to compute GST payable across a list of transactions is counted as computation of GST liability, even though each line inside it tests exemptions, reverse charge, place of supply or ITC. Where ICAI gave an either/or, we've counted the first option. ICAI's May 2026 answers don't print marks for Q5(b) and Q5(c); we've taken them as 5 and 4, the split every other question in that paper uses.
CA Final IDT chapter-wise weightage: the last 4 papers
These are the marks printed per chapter, MCQs and descriptive together. Part I is GST (Goods and Services Tax):
| GST chapter | May 2025 | Sep 2025 | Jan 2026 | May 2026 | Asked in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computation of GST liability | 21 | 24 | 21 | 19 | 4 of 4 |
| Supply and charge (incl. reverse charge, composition) | 4 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 4 of 4 |
| Appeals and revision | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 of 4 |
| Offences and penalties | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 of 4 |
| Time of supply | 9 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 of 4 |
| Input tax credit | 4 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 4 of 4 |
| Payment of tax (interest, TDS) | 7 | 7 | 2 | – | 3 of 4 |
| Assessment, audit and other provisions | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 of 4 |
| E-commerce (TCS, section 9(5)) | – | – | 12 | 3 | 2 of 4 |
| Demands and recovery | 2 | 7 | – | 6 | 3 of 4 |
| Place of supply | 5 | 5 | – | 4 | 3 of 4 |
| Tax invoice, records and e-way bill | 4 | 2 | – | 7 | 3 of 4 |
| Advance ruling | 6 | – | 6 | – | 2 of 4 |
| Exemptions | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 of 4 |
| Refunds | – | – | 5 | 5 | 2 of 4 |
| Job work | 5 | – | 5 | – | 2 of 4 |
| Returns | 3 | 2 | 4 | – | 3 of 4 |
| Registration | 2 | 5 | – | – | 2 of 4 |
| Value of supply | 2 | 2 | – | 2 | 3 of 4 |
| Liability to pay in certain cases | – | – | – | 2 | 1 of 4 |
| GST total printed | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
Part II is customs and FTP (Foreign Trade Policy):
| Customs and FTP chapter | May 2025 | Sep 2025 | Jan 2026 | May 2026 | Asked in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 of 4 |
| Baggage | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 of 4 |
| Levy and exemptions (incl. remission, end-use rules) | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 of 4 |
| Other import and export procedures | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 of 4 |
| Foreign Trade Policy | – | 4 | 6 | 8 | 3 of 4 |
| Types of duty | 2 | – | – | – | 1 of 4 |
| Warehousing | 4 | – | – | – | 1 of 4 |
| Refund | – | 4 | – | – | 1 of 4 |
| Customs and FTP total printed | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
Exemptions look small at 2–5 marks, but that's only the questions set on them alone. Every computation question leans on them: sale of land and securities, interest on deposits, hiring to a GTA, grading of farm produce and skill-training programmes all sat inside computations. Classification of goods wasn't the subject of any question in these four papers.
Four things stand out:
- Question 1 has been a GST computation every time. Each one asked for the net GST payable in cash for a month, across a long list of transactions: exports under LUT, Schedule III items, reverse charge, ITC with blocked credits or common-credit reversal. It is compulsory and worth 14 marks.
- Customs is 4 marks in every question from Q2 to Q6. The last part of each, (b) or (c), was customs or FTP in all four papers, plus two customs MCQs. Whichever four questions you choose, you write 16 customs marks plus 4 in the MCQs, which is exactly ICAI's 80/20 split. You can't skip customs by choosing questions.
- Q5(a) has been offences and penalties every time. Fake invoices without supply came up twice (May 2025, May 2026), detention of goods in transit under section 129 once, and penalties on an e-commerce operator once. Appeals and pre-deposit came up in every paper too.
- Baggage has been asked every time. It was Q4(c) in three papers and an MCQ in May 2026. Q2's customs part was valuation in all four.
None of this is an ICAI rule, and the next paper can change. But a pattern that holds four papers in a row is worth practising for.
CA Final IDT marks weightage chapter wise: question by question
Part I, the MCQs:
| MCQs | May 2025 | Sep 2025 | Jan 2026 | May 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customs | 1–2: goods damaged before clearance, countervailing duty | 2–3: export duty, import report | 2–3: DFIA (FTP), interest on provisional assessment | 14–15: baggage, provisional assessment |
| Stand-alone GST | 3: healthcare exemption | 1: ISD credit | 1: time of supply on reverse charge | 13: pre-deposit before the Tribunal |
| Case 1 (6 MCQs) | Reverse charge, ITC, cash payable, SCN time limit, interest, vouchers | Hedging contract, hotel ITC, composite supply, late fee, penalty | Output tax, ITC, reverse charge, TDS, GSTR-1A, HSN codes | Del-credere agent value, ITC, records, place of supply, exemption |
| Case 2 (6 MCQs) | Registration date, ITC on leaving composition, value, composition tax, time of supply, payment voucher | Schedule I, exemptions, TDS, related-party value, invoice date, section 74A penalty | E-commerce: output tax, TCS, section 9(5), GSTR-8 late fee | Composition limits, reverse charge, ITC on switching, place of supply, retiring partner |
Part II, the descriptive questions:
| Question (marks) | May 2025 | Sep 2025 | Jan 2026 | May 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 (14, compulsory) | GST computation with exports, land, securities | GST computation with printing, corporate guarantee, bill-to-ship-to | GST computation with exports, R&D and data hosting services | GST computation for a car dealer |
| Q2 (10 + 4) | Taxable value item-wise (5) · job work (5) · customs valuation (4) | Net GST liability (10) · customs valuation in yen (4) | Net tax payable (5) · reverse charge (5) · customs valuation (4) | Gross tax liability (5) · gifts to employees (5) · customs valuation (4) |
| Q3 (10 + 4) | Place of supply (5) · time of supply, spectrum (5) · end-use duty (4) | Place of supply and exemption (5) · time of supply, reverse charge (5) · end-use rules (4) | RWA exemption (5) · import of online money gaming (5) · remission (4) | Time of supply (5) · penal charges, section 9(5) (5) · warehoused goods rate (4) |
| Q4 (10 + 4) | TDS (5) · QRMP and dynamic QR (5) · baggage (4) | Interest (5) · registration (5) · baggage (4) | Refund interest (5) · job work (5) · baggage (4) | Export refund (5) · e-way bill or job work (5) · provisional assessment interest (4) |
| Q5 (10 + 4) | Fake invoices, offences (5) · revision and pre-deposit (5) · warehousing interest (4) | Section 129 penalty (5) · section 74A time limits (5) · customs refund (4) | E-commerce penalties (5) · pre-deposit (5) · unclaimed imports (4) | Fake invoices, compounding (5) · additional evidence (5) · EPCG (4) |
| Q6 (10 + 4) | Advance ruling (6) · best judgement assessment or special audit (4) · import and export documents (4) | Additional evidence in appeal (6) · section 160 or audit (4) · Denied Entity List (4) | Advance ruling (6) · deemed documents or confiscation (4) · QCOs under Advance Authorisation (4) | Recovery from sale proceeds (6) · provisional assessment (4) · Star Export House (4) |
What ICAI's official section-wise weightage says
ICAI's section-wise weightage for Paper 5 (PDF) (opens in a new tab) gives GST 80 marks and customs and FTP 20, applies "till further changes are made" and allows a deviation of up to ±5%. Here are the GST ranges beside the marks we counted:
| GST section | Chapters | ICAI range | Printed marks per paper (May 25, Sep 25, Jan 26, May 26) |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Supply, charge, place and time of supply, value, exemptions, ITC, computation | 45%–65% | 47, 50, 42, 51 |
| II | Procedures (registration, invoices, e-way bill, payment, returns), refunds, job work, liability in certain cases | 10%–30% | 21, 16, 28, 17 |
| III | Administration, assessment and audit, inspection and search, other provisions | 0–5% | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
| IV | Demands and recovery, offences and penalties, advance ruling, appeals, ethics | 15%–30% | 18, 20, 16, 18 |
We've placed e-commerce under Section II, so January 2026's 12-mark e-commerce case makes that paper's Section II look heavy. ICAI's ranges are percentages of the 80 GST marks you answer, and our counts are of 90 printed, so ours run a little high. Section III has been exactly one 4-mark theory part every time, at the top of its range. In customs, ICAI's Section I (levy, types of duty, classification and valuation) is 40%–65%; the papers gave it 8–12 of 24 printed marks. The full table for all six papers is in CA Final syllabus and paper weightage.
What's in and out for November 2026
- Study material: ICAI's study material notice for November 2026 (PDF) (opens in a new tab) names the September 2025 edition (Modules 1 to 4), plus the RTP and the Statutory Update for November 2026.
- Cut-off: GST and customs law as amended by the Finance Act, 2025, with notifications, circulars and other amendments effective up to 30 April 2026, as ICAI's RTP for November 2026, Paper 5 (PDF) (opens in a new tab) states.
- Not applicable, as ICAI's Statutory Update for November 2026 (PDF) (opens in a new tab) notes: the Finance Act, 2023 amendments to section 65 of the Customs Act and new section 65A, and the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 amendments to sections 2(4), 95 and 102–106 of the CGST Act, with new sections 101A–101C. None of these were in force by 30 April 2026.
- What the Statutory Update adds: changes in the GST chapters on charge, exemptions, value, ITC, registration, e-commerce, returns, refunds, demands, offences and appeals; in customs, the provisional assessment regulations of 2025 and the Baggage Rules, 2026; and in FTP, the RoDTEP extension.
Baggage is the one to redo. The Baggage Rules, 2026 replaced the 2016 rules from 2 February 2026. Under the new rules the general free allowance is ₹75,000 for a resident or tourist of Indian origin arriving other than by land, and ₹25,000 for a tourist of foreign origin. ICAI's suggested answers from May 2025 and January 2026 used the old ₹15,000 and ₹50,000 figures. So when you practise past baggage questions, rework them with the 2026 figures. How to revise amendments quickly is in how to revise amendments for CA exams, and the cut-offs by attempt are in what's applicable for your CA attempt.
ABC analysis for CA Final IDT, November 2026
This is our priority order, built from the four papers and ICAI's ranges. It isn't an ICAI list.
| Tier | Chapters | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A: revise first, practise in full | Computation of GST liability and ITC · Supply and charge (reverse charge, composition) · Time of supply · Appeals and offences · Customs valuation and baggage | Asked in all 4 papers, 55–64 printed marks a paper, about 52% of the total. Q1, Q5(a) and Q2's customs part have been these every time. |
| B: one question each, then a second | Place of supply · Exemptions · Demands and recovery · Payment of tax (interest, TDS) · E-commerce · Invoices and e-way bill · Refunds · Job work · Advance ruling · Customs levy and exemptions · FTP · Provisional assessment | Asked in 2–4 papers, mostly as 4–6 mark parts. Place of supply and exemptions also sit inside every Q1. E-commerce took 12 marks in January 2026. |
| C: concepts and the Statutory Update | Registration · Returns · Value · Assessment and audit · Liability in certain cases · Inspection and search · Classification · Types of duty · Warehousing · Customs refund | Usually 2–5 marks, or one MCQ. Several carry 2025–26 amendments, so read those pages of the Statutory Update. |
C doesn't mean skip. Q6(b) has been a 4-mark assessment or audit theory part in every paper, and each customs C topic is one 4-mark part you may have to write, because you can't choose your way out of customs.
A worked example: the yen import from September 2025
September 2025's Q2(b), for 4 marks, gave a machine imported by vessel from Japan: cost up to the port of export ¥5,00,000, loading charges ¥15,000, freight ¥1,15,000, insurance ¥20,000, a ₹1,20,000 commission to the exporter's local agent and ₹6,00,000 design charges paid in New Delhi. The bill of entry was filed on 20 January 2025 (duty 10%, CBIC rate ₹0.65 per yen) and the entry inward came on 25 January 2025 (duty 15%, CBIC rate ₹0.66).
| Step | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Cost and loading | ¥5,15,000 × ₹0.65 | ₹3,34,750 |
| Commission to exporter's agent | Not a buying commission, so added | ₹1,20,000 |
| Customs FOB | ₹4,54,750 | |
| Freight | ¥1,15,000 × ₹0.65 | ₹74,750 |
| Insurance | ¥20,000 × ₹0.65 | ₹13,000 |
| Assessable value | ₹5,42,500 | |
| Basic customs duty | 15% | ₹81,375 |
These are ICAI's figures in its September 2025 answers (PDF) (opens in a new tab). There are two traps. The exchange rate is the CBIC rate on the date the bill of entry is filed (₹0.65), but the rate of duty is the one in force on the bill of entry date or the entry inward date, whichever is later (15%). And design work done in India stays out of assessable value. Mix up the two dates and you lose marks even if every addition is right.
A five-week IDT revision order
IDT is on 11 November, two days after DT, with 10 November free (full timetable). Our suggestion:
- This week: Q1 computations. Write two full GST computations in the ICAI format, with a reason against every line. Then revise blocked credits, common-credit reversal, the reverse charge lists and the exemptions that keep coming back.
- Next week: the rest of Section I. Supply and Schedules I to III, composite and mixed supply, composition limits, time of supply (reverse charge, vouchers, change in rate), place of supply for services, and value.
- Week 3: Section IV and procedures. Pre-deposit and appeal routes, sections 73, 74 and 74A, fake-invoice penalties and section 129, advance ruling. Then one question each on refunds, e-commerce, TDS and interest, e-way bills and job work.
- Week 4: customs and FTP. Valuation (exchange rate and duty-rate dates, the 20% air freight cap), baggage under the 2026 rules, remission and end-use rules, provisional assessment interest, and the FTP schemes.
- Last days: MCQs and the Statutory Update. Solve the RTP and 15 MCQs a day from ICAI's past papers. On 10 November, revise your notes only. No new questions.
Fit one full IDT mock in each of weeks 2, 3 and 4. A timed mock shows whether you lose marks in the A list or simply run out of time on Q1. Our CA Final last 30 days mock test plan shows how to slot IDT around DT and IBS. ICAI examiners keep marking down answers that give a figure without the legal reason, as ICAI examiners' comments show, and how marks are given for each step is in step marking in CA exams.
Frequently asked questions
Which chapters are most important in CA Final IDT for November 2026?
On ICAI's last four papers: computation of GST liability with ITC, supply and charge (reverse charge and composition), time of supply, appeals, offences and penalties, and in customs, valuation and baggage. All of them came up every time and together took about 52% of the printed marks (236 of 456).
Does ICAI publish chapter-wise weightage for IDT?
No. ICAI publishes section-wise weightage (PDF) (opens in a new tab) as percentage ranges: four sections for GST and three for customs and FTP, with ±5% deviation allowed. Any chapter-wise figure, including ours, is counted from past papers.
What is the GST and customs weightage in CA Final IDT?
GST is 80 marks and customs and FTP 20 marks of the 100 you answer. In all four papers, ICAI printed 90 GST and 24 customs marks, and the 80/20 split held whichever four optional questions you chose.
What is the CA Final IDT chapter-wise weightage trend in previous years?
From May 2025 to May 2026, the shape held steady. Q1 was a GST computation every time, Q5(a) was offences and penalties, and every question from Q2 to Q6 ended with a 4-mark customs or FTP part. FTP grew from nothing in May 2025 to 8 marks in May 2026, and e-commerce took a whole 12-mark MCQ case in January 2026.
Can I skip customs or FTP in CA Final IDT?
We wouldn't. You can't avoid customs by choosing questions, because every optional question carries a 4-mark customs part. Valuation and baggage alone came up in every paper, and both are quick marks if you've practised them.
Find out which tier costs you marks
A weightage table tells you where the marks are. Only a checked paper tells you where you lose them. Our CA Final IDT mock tests, part of our CA mock test series, are full-syllabus papers on ICAI's current pattern: 30% MCQs and 70% descriptive, 100 marks in 3 hours. Every chapter is covered across the mocks, with more weight on the most-asked, and every amendment applicable for November 2026 is tested.
You write by hand and upload one PDF. Your checked copy comes back within 24 hours, with ICAI-style step-wise marks and the reason for every mark cut, including the correct line to write. You'll see whether your marks go in the Q1 computation, in missing legal reasons or in the customs parts.
If you're choosing a CA test series for the whole of CA Final Group II, IDT is the middle paper, between DT and IBS, so plan its mock alongside both. You can read preview pages of the first mock before you buy. ICAI's own past papers and RTPs are on our CA Final past year question papers page, and the same analysis for Group I is in CA Final FR chapter-wise weightage and CA Final AFM chapter-wise weightage. For a 3-hour time plan and a 3-mock schedule before 11 November, read CA Final IDT mock test.