Income Tax dept nudges taxpayers with undisclosed foreign properties to use FAST-DS 2026

The Income Tax Department has stepped up outreach to taxpayers with undisclosed foreign assets — including select taxpayers with properties in the UAE — to use the FAST-DS 2026 one-time disclosure scheme, Finance Ministry sources told ANI and IANS on October 26. About 1,100 applications have been filed so far; the scheme is open till December 31, 2026.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk26 October 20263 min readRead in all 3 languages

The Income Tax Department has stepped up efforts to persuade taxpayers with undisclosed assets abroad to use the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers – Disclosure Scheme, 2026 (FAST-DS), Finance Ministry sources told ANI on October 26. The one-time scheme offers a window to declare foreign assets and income that were not disclosed earlier.

Source: ANI via DevDiscourse

To help taxpayers, the department has added a facility on the e-filing portal where a taxpayer can view details of assets reported against their PAN by foreign jurisdictions under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), commonly known as CRS/FATCA, and download the data for 2022 to 2024, the sources said.

The department has recently nudged select taxpayers who have invested in residential or commercial properties in the UAE, IANS reported, citing Finance Ministry sources. Around 1,100 taxpayers have filed applications under the scheme so far, and the scheme remains open till December 31, 2026.

Source: IANS via Hi India

What declaring under FAST-DS involves

Eligible disclosures can be regularised by paying 30 per cent tax on the fair market value and an equal amount as penalty, according to the reports. The process is fully online, trust-based and self-declaratory, and a valid declaration brings immunity from further assessment, penalty and prosecution under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.

The scheme also lets taxpayers report assets and income that have already been accounted for on payment of a Rs 1 lakh fee — yaani one lakh rupees — avoiding the Rs 10 lakh penalty prescribed for each year under the Black Money Act, the reports said.

What is not yet on the portal

Sources said the portal currently shows only information received from CRS/FATCA signatories. Data received under other multilateral frameworks has not been displayed because of risk factors and non-disclosure commitments, and the department also gathers intelligence from other sources. At a high-level meeting on October 23, it was decided that such information may also be shared with the relevant taxpayers, wherever possible, so they can use the scheme.

The department has planned outreach programmes for taxpayers, corporates as employers, educational institutes, professional bodies and industry associations. The CBDT has set up a committee in each region under the Principal Chief Commissioner to help taxpayers resolve queries, ANI reported.