FAST-DS 2026: a one-time chance to declare foreign assets

What FAST-DS is

The Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme, 2026 (FAST-DS) comes from the Finance Act, 2026. It's a one-time window to declare foreign assets or foreign income you should have reported in your tax returns but didn't. The Budget named who it's meant for: students, young professionals, tech employees and people who moved back to India.

• Opens: 16 August 2026
• Last date to declare: 31 December 2026. No declaration is accepted after that.
• Values are taken as on: 31 March 2026

Could this be you?

Salaried people most often end up here in one of these ways:

• RSUs or ESPP shares from a foreign employer. Tax was deducted on them as salary, but the shares were never listed in Schedule FA of your return.
• A bank account, brokerage account or retirement account from years you worked or studied abroad, not reported after you became resident again.
• Dividends or interest earned abroad that were never shown in your Indian return.

Leaving foreign assets out of Schedule FA can attract a penalty of ₹10 lakh under the Black Money Act, so it's worth settling. Whether you need the scheme, or a simpler fix, depends on the facts. An expert can tell you.

The two categories and what they cost

If your Category 2 assets are worth more than ₹5 crore, you can't use the scheme at all. You can declare several assets, and both categories, in one form.

Worked example

The Income Tax Department's own example: a foreign bank account valued at ₹60 lakh and foreign income of ₹20 lakh, both undisclosed (Category 1).

Compare that with Category 2: RSUs taxed as salary but never listed in Schedule FA, worth ₹40 lakh, would cost the flat ₹1 lakh fee if they fit that category. Getting the category right matters more than anything else.

How the value is worked out

• Most assets: the higher of what you paid and the market value on 31 March 2026.
• Listed shares, including RSUs: the higher of your cost and the average of that day's high and low price.
• A foreign bank account: not the balance. It's the total of every deposit since you opened the account, leaving out money you withdrew and put back. This can be far more than what's in the account today.
• Currency: converted to rupees at the RBI reference rate on 31 March 2026.

How to declare, step by step

1. File Form 1 on the e-filing portal by 31 December 2026: e-File, Income Tax Forms, then "Forms as per other Acts". Attach proof of how you got each asset, and valuation reports where needed. E-verify it.
2. The department sends Form 2, the amount to pay, within a month after the month you filed.
3. Pay within two months after the month you receive Form 2, using challan ITNS 289. A delay of up to two more months is allowed, with simple interest of 1% a month. Miss that and the declaration fails. Check the amount carefully: these payments can't be corrected or refunded.
4. Send Form 3 with proof of payment.
5. The department issues Form 4, certifying your payment. Keep it safe.

What you get, and what you don't

• You get: immunity from further tax, penalty and prosecution under the Black Money Act for what you declare. The amount declared isn't added to your income again.
• You don't get: a refund or set-off of what you pay, or the right to reopen past assessments.
• Not covered: proceeds of crime under money-laundering proceedings, or years where a Black Money Act assessment is already complete.

After you declare

List your foreign assets in Schedule FA every year from now on. That usually means filing ITR-2, not ITR-1. Read our guide to how RSUs and foreign shares are taxed.