A method comprising obtaining a bitstream, the bitstream comprises a transform unit syntax and a coding unit syntax, the transform unit syntax includes a value of a first flag and a value of a second flag related to, respectively, a first chroma transform block and a second chroma transform block of a current transform unit or a current sub-transform unit within the current transform unit, the first or second flag specifies whether the first or second chroma transform block contains at least one transform coefficient levels not equal to 0, the coding unit syntax includes a value of a third flag specifying whether a transform tree structure is present or not; and deriving a value of a fourth flag based on the values of the first, second, and third flags, the fourth flag specifies whether a luma transform block contains at least one transform coefficient levels not equal to 0.