The complex task of reporting foreign income
Live MintThe enactment of the Black Money Act in 2015 instituted a notable makeover in income tax returns to envelop extensive disclosures capturing details of foreign assets and income, making the intent loud and clear. A resident taxpayer holding foreign assets or foreign interest at any time during the relevant accounting period needs to necessarily disclose the same in the ITR form. The income tax laws make ITR filing mandatory for individual taxpayers who may albeit not be required to file ITR due to income being below basic exemption limit, if one is a ‘beneficial owner’ or is a ‘beneficiary’ of any foreign asset or foreign financial interest. The ITR earmarks a separate section ‘Schedule FA’ to capture details of possible variants of foreign assets, foreign interests and corresponding income derived therefrom by a resident taxpayer.