This applies only to Resident & Ordinary Resident (ROR) and not applicable to NRIs.
If a person was a Resident and Ordinarily Resident (ROR) during the period from AY 2015–16 to FY 2024–25 and failed to disclose foreign assets or foreign income, stringent provisions of the Black Money Act could apply. Under this law, the penalty can be as high as ₹10 lakh for each undisclosed foreign asset.
However, as proposed in Budget 2026, relief may be available through the FAST DS 2026 (i.e Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers – Disclosure Scheme 2026), under which eligible taxpayers can regularise such assets by paying a lower fee or prescribed penalty. The detailed guidelines, timelines, and notification dates are yet to be announced by the department. I am not going into deeper technical details here because this provision does not have any immediate impact on pure NRIs. But I want to discuss it for awareness, particularly for those NRIs who are planning to return to India and may subsequently become Resident and Ordinarily Resident.
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