A method of partitioning a coding unit (CU) into one or more transform units (TUs) for encoding a video sequence using at least one processor includes determining a height of the CU; determining a width of the CU; determining a TU size of each of the one or more TUs based on the height of the CU and the width of the CU; determining one or more TU positions of the one or more TUs based on the height of the CU and the width of the CU; and partitioning the CU into the one or more TUs based on the determined size of the one or more TUs and the one or more positions of the one or more TUs.