Foreign assets disclosure scheme: CBDT FAQs explain who can declare, the 30% tax plus equal amount, the ₹1 lakh fee and payment through Challan ITNS 289

What the FAQs are

CBDT has published 50 questions and answers on the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme, 2026, the one-time voluntary disclosure scheme in Chapter IV (sections 130 to 144) of the Finance Act, 2026. The Scheme came into force on 16 August 2026; the last date is 31 December 2026; the valuation date is 31 March 2026. The whole process is online, before the Principal Director General or Director General of Income-tax (Systems).

Who can declare

• A person resident in India in the relevant previous year.
• A person who is non-resident or resident but not ordinarily resident in that year, if he was resident in India either in the year to which the undisclosed foreign income relates or in the year in which the undisclosed foreign asset was acquired.

A declaration can be made, for any previous year, where no return was filed, the asset or income was not disclosed in a return filed before the Scheme began, or it escaped assessment.

Two kinds of declaration, two prices

The FAQs’ example: an undisclosed foreign bank account of ₹60 lakh and undisclosed foreign income of ₹20 lakh. Tax is ₹18 lakh and ₹6 lakh; the equal additional amount is another ₹24 lakh; the total payable is ₹48 lakh. And if assets under Sl. No. 2 are worth ₹6.5 crore, the person is not eligible for the Scheme at all.

The bank account example

A foreign bank account is valued at the sum of all deposits since it was opened, leaving out deposits made from money earlier withdrawn from the same account. In the FAQs’ example, an account opened in 2010 received deposits of $1,000, $500, $500, $500, $2,500 and $1,000, with withdrawals of $700, $400 and $500 that were later re-deposited. The value works out to $4,900, converted into rupees as on 31 March 2026. If the account had earlier been declared under Chapter VI of the Black Money Act, 2015, only later deposits count — $3,100 in the same example.

What you get, and what you give up

• Immunity from further tax, penalty and prosecution under the Black Money Act, 2015 for the income or asset declared; the amount is not included in total income under the Income-tax Act, 1961 or the Black Money Act.
• No rectification, revision, set-off or relief can be claimed for the declared income or asset in any assessment already made.
• If an assessment is pending, the Assessing Officer has to take the declaration into account.

The Scheme is not available for income or assets representing proceeds of crime where proceedings under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 have been initiated or are pending, or for a year in which assessment under the Black Money Act is already complete.

Paying: Challan ITNS 289

The Income Tax Department’s Challan No. ITNS 289 is for this Scheme. It uses payment code 115 for companies (0020) and 116 for others (0021), with separate lines for tax under Sl. No. 1, fee under Sl. No. 2 and interest under section 135(3) at 1% per month. The notes say payment can be made online through the e-Filing portal only (e-Pay Tax). PAN is mandatory.