Foreign income, RSUs and ESOPs
For residents holding foreign shares through an employer plan, and for non-residents with Indian assets — the disclosure and credit rules that carry the heaviest penalties for getting them wrong.
28 articles · written and reviewed by CA K Sanjay Bhargav, Chartered Accountant
Cornerstone guide
Buying Property in Dubai as a Resident Indian: LRS, TCS and Tax
A resident Indian can buy property in Dubai, but only with money sent under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, within USD 250,000 per person per year, and with 20% TCS on most of it. The purchase also starts a reporting duty in every return for as long as you hold the flat, and leaving it out is the most expensive omission on the form.
Cornerstone guide
FAST-DS 2026: Window Open Until 31 December
The window opened on 16 August 2026 and closes on 31 December. Foreign assets you never reported settle at 60% of value against the 120% the Black Money Act charges — or a flat ₹1 lakh on narrower facts.
Foreign National Living in India: You Get No 182-Day Relief
Most expatriate tax guidance quotes 182 days. That number comes from a relief written only for citizens and people of Indian origin. For everyone else the threshold is 60 days, and an employment visa does not change it.
Dubai Off-Plan Payment Plans: LRS Limits and No Foreign Mortgage
An off-plan payment plan is set in dirhams and percentages; the Indian limits that apply to it are set in dollars per person per financial year. Mapping one onto the other before signing shows whether the plan fits, what TCS each instalment carries, and what happens if a buyer moves abroad or the purchase is cancelled.
Rent From a Dubai Flat: How India Taxes It
The UAE does not tax your rent, so India taxes all of it with nothing to credit. How the dirham rent becomes a rupee figure, what can be deducted, the two Schedule FA entries it needs, and what FEMA says about leaving it in Dubai.
Buying and Owning Property: Dubai vs Bengaluru Costs
Registration costs less in Dubai, a home loan and its deductions exist only in Bengaluru, and for a resident Indian the rent and the gain are taxed in India either way. A worked comparison of one purchase in each city, with the assumptions stated.
Is Dubai Property Tax-Free for Indians? What It Saves
The UAE charges no income tax on an individual's rent and no capital gains tax on a sale, and that part of the pitch is true. Whether it saves you anything depends on where you live, because India taxes its residents on worldwide income whatever the UAE does.
Selling a Dubai Property: Capital Gains Tax in India
The UAE charges no tax on the sale, so India taxes the whole gain. How the cost and sale price become rupees, when the old 20%-with-indexation option still applies, why the only exemptions run through India, and what FEMA says about the proceeds.
Bought Property in Dubai and Never Reported It? FAST-DS Options
Foreign property is the one asset the ₹20 lakh Black Money Act threshold never covers, so a Dubai flat missing from Schedule FA carries a ₹10 lakh penalty exposure for every year it was left out. Whether FAST-DS can close that, and at what cost, turns on how the purchase money left India and on what the flat is worth in rupees.
Foreign Assets Information in Your AIS: How to Read It
The department now shows you what foreign banks and brokers have reported about you, one calendar year at a time. Most of the apparent mismatches are timing and definitions, not errors, and the feedback form cannot fix an omission in a return.
The Rs 20 Lakh Black Money Act Threshold: What It Covers
Since October 2024, foreign assets other than immovable property with an aggregate value up to ₹20 lakh are outside the Black Money Act's ₹10 lakh penalties, and now its prosecution provisions too. The threshold does not remove Schedule FA, the tax on the income, or the tax on an asset whose source cannot be explained.
Schedule FA: The Foreign Assets People Forget to Report
The main brokerage account is rarely what gets missed in Schedule FA. It is the old student account, the 401(k), the cash left in the RSU account, a Wise balance, or an account you can only sign on.
Got the Income Tax Email on 'Overseas Financial Interests'?
Since late September the Income Tax Department has been emailing taxpayers who appear in foreign account data, pointing them to their AIS and to FAST-DS. It is not a notice, but the dates it points to are real: 31 December 2026 for the scheme and 31 March 2027 for revising this year's return.
Revised Return, ITR-U or FAST-DS: Fixing a Missed Foreign Asset
The three routes fix different things. An updated return settles the income tax but not the Black Money Act penalty for leaving an asset out, and the years now showing in the AIS are the ones where the cheapest route has already closed.
TCS on Foreign Remittances in 2026: 2% or 20%, and How to Get It Back
The bank takes it before the money leaves, and it is not a tax. It is an advance the department holds until you file. Which of the three rates applies to your remittance, why an ESOP exercise is the expensive one, and how to have it adjusted against salary TDS instead of waiting a year for a refund.
Foreign Assets Disclosure Scheme: Form 1 Is Now Live
Until now the scheme existed and the form did not. It is on the portal now — and the rules behind it carry a payment clock and a valuation tolerance that most summaries leave out.
Can an NRI Use FAST-DS 2026?
Yes, if you were resident in India in the relevant earlier year. Section 131 covers non-residents expressly — current residence is not the test.
The FAST-DS Rs 5 Crore Cliff: Who Cannot Use It
Above Rs 5 crore the scheme is not available at all — there is no higher charge and no option to declare part of it. The Rs 1 crore ceiling works the same way.
How FAST-DS Values a Foreign Bank Account
Not the balance and not the peak. Every deposit from the day the account opened to 31 March 2026 — which is why a near-empty account can carry a large value.
Form 67 and Form 44: Claiming Foreign Tax Credit
Form 67 covers AY 2026-27; Form 44 takes over from tax year 2026-27. The deadline, the documents, and why the credit is capped below what was withheld.
Does an NRI Have to File a Return in India, and Which One?
There is a narrow carve-out where TDS is treated as final. Outside it, filing is required — and filing voluntarily is often worth it anyway.
The RNOR Window: Plan It Before You Book the Flight
Returning NRIs get a transitional status where foreign income stays outside the Indian net. It turns on day counts, and the date you arrive decides it.
Schedule FA from Fidelity, Schwab or Morgan Stanley
Whichever platform holds your RSUs, Schedule FA needs the same five figures. What to download, the period that catches everyone, and the three errors.
TRC and Form 10F (Now Form 41): Claiming Treaty Relief
A treaty rate is not applied automatically. The residency certificate and the form have to reach the payer before deduction, not after.
What You Give Up by Declaring Under FAST-DS
A declaration is final. Section 137 closes off rectification, revision and appellate relief on what you declare; Section 138 makes the payment non-refundable.
Missed Schedule FA? The Revised Return Window Explained
Forgot to disclose foreign RSUs or a US brokerage account? For AY 2026-27 the revised-return window runs to 31 March 2027 — fixing it now is far cheaper than being asked later.
Taxed Twice on US RSU Dividends? Form 67 Fixes It
Tax withheld in the US and taxed again in India — the credit exists, but it is not automatic. Form 67 is the step people miss.
Schedule FA From Your Broker Statement, Line by Line
Which figure on your equity-platform statement goes where in Schedule FA — and the calendar-year trap that catches most MNC employees.
Other topics
- Tax notices and assessments
- Business tax, audit and filing
- GST — registration, returns and credit
- NRI money, property and repatriation
- Foreign-owned companies in India
- Bank finance and company compliance
- Internal controls, IT audit and data protection
- Service exports, GCCs and professionals
- Manufacturing and industry
- Real estate, JDAs and development
- The Income-tax Act 2025 transition
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