Which Direct and Indirect Taxation topics matter most for CMA Intermediate?

Basic Concepts and Residential Status, Salaries and Income from House Property, Profits and Gains of Business or Profession, Capital Gains and Income from Other Sources, GST: Introduction, Supply, Charge and Place of Supply, Input Tax Credit and Registration carry the highest question counts based on previous-year analyses.

Is this Direct and Indirect Taxation material free?

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CMA IntermediateDirect and Indirect Taxation

Direct and Indirect Taxation for CMA Intermediate

Paper 7 · Group I · Section A Direct Tax · Section B GST & Customs.

📊 Section A MCQ + Section B descriptive · 100 marks · 3 hours

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How toppers play this section

Treat the two halves as two separate papers stapled together, same as every other tax paper on this hub. Income-tax computation follows a fixed five-heads-then-deductions skeleton; GST resolves almost every question to whether it is a supply, whether it is taxable, when liability arises and on what value. Customs is deliberately shallow — one CIF-valuation formula and a handful of duty-type distinctions, not a full customs-law treatment.

Chapters

Built to the CMA Intermediate blueprint — notes, shortcuts, solved PYQ-style examples and practice in every chapter.

1How to Crack CA Inter TaxationWhy Income-tax Law and GST must be prepared as two separate papers under one cover, the fixed skeleton every computation is built on, and which Act governs your sitting.⏱ 16 min read

2Basic Concepts and Residential StatusThe vocabulary the whole Act is written in — assessee, previous year, assessment year, the charge of tax — and the residential status tests that determine what income of a person is even taxable in India.⏱ 30 min read

3Salaries and Income from House PropertyThe first two heads of income — how salary, allowances and perquisites are valued and exempted, and how a self-occupied, let-out or deemed-let-out house arrives at its annual value under section 24's two permitted deductions.⏱ 32 min read

4Profits and Gains of Business or ProfessionThe largest and heaviest head of income — the depreciation block system, what section 30 to 37 allow and section 40 to 43B expressly disallow, presumptive taxation for small businesses and professionals, and the definitional line between business income and other heads.⏱ 34 min read

5Capital Gains and Income from Other SourcesWhat counts as a capital asset and a transfer, the short-term/long-term divide and indexation, exemptions under sections 54 to 54F, and the residual head that catches everything the other four do not.⏱ 32 min read

6Clubbing, Set-Off and Deductions from Gross Total IncomeWhose income is it really — the clubbing provisions that attribute income to the person who actually parted with the asset — the sequence rules for setting off and carrying forward losses, and the Chapter VI-A deductions that convert Gross Total Income into Total Income.⏱ 30 min read

7TDS, TCS, Advance Tax, Returns and Tax ComputationHow tax is collected before the assessment year even ends — deduction and collection at source, the four-instalment advance tax schedule, filing deadlines, and the final arithmetic of slab rates, rebate, surcharge and cess.⏱ 32 min read

8GST: Introduction, Supply, Charge and Place of SupplyWhy India runs a dual GST, what counts as a supply under section 7, the composite/mixed supply distinction, the levy under section 9, and the rules that decide which state — or which country — a supply is taxed in.⏱ 32 min read

9GST: Exemptions, Time and Value of SupplyWhat GST exempts and why, when a taxable supply's liability actually arises — the trigger that fixes the return period — and how much tax is charged on it under the section 15 valuation rule.⏱ 30 min read

10Input Tax Credit and RegistrationThe mechanism that makes GST a tax only on value added — the four conditions to claim credit, the express blocks under section 17(5), and the thresholds that decide when a person must register at all.⏱ 32 min read

11GST: Documentation, Payment and ReturnsThe tax invoice and its variants, the e-way bill, how liability is discharged through the electronic ledgers, and the return filing cycle that closes the compliance loop every month.⏱ 28 min read

12Customs Duty: An OutlineWhy customs duty is charged on a transaction value built up to include freight and insurance rather than the invoice price alone, and the handful of duty types and exemption ideas the syllabus expects at outline depth.⏱ 9 min read

Topic-wise weightage in CMA Intermediate

Expected question counts from previous-year paper analyses. Topics with an arrow already have a full chapter.

Topic	Eight papers in two groups, 800 marks Q	Priority
Basic Concepts and Residential Status	~8	Very high
Salaries and Income from House Property	~10	Very high
Profits and Gains of Business or Profession	~10	Very high
Capital Gains and Income from Other Sources	~10	Very high
Clubbing, Set-Off and Deductions from Gross Total Income	~8	High
TDS, TCS, Advance Tax, Returns and Tax Computation	~8	High
GST: Introduction, Supply, Charge and Place of Supply	~12	Very high
GST: Exemptions, Time and Value of Supply	~10	High
Input Tax Credit and Registration	~12	Very high
GST: Documentation, Payment and Returns	~8	Medium
Customs Duty: An Outline	~4	Low