Global Equity

India | Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers — Disclosure Scheme rules, 2026: amnesty scheme now operational

Summary

If you have Indian employees or expatriates working in India who participate in overseas equity compensation plans, where the underlying assets qualify as foreign assets or generate foreign income they may need to be disclosed in their Indian income tax returns.

India’s Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme 2026 (FAST-DS) provides a one-off  opportunity for eligible taxpayers to voluntarily disclose foreign assets and foreign income which were not previously reported, subject to the specific thresholds and payment of additional taxes.

The scheme opened 16 August 2026 and declarations must be made by 31 December 2026.

The detail

What is FAST-DS?

The full details of the scheme including eligibility can be found in our earlier alert of 24 August 2026.

Employee education sessions

If your employees are eligible to participate in an overseas equity plan, which would constitute foreign assets generating foreign income. The foreign income and assets are required to be reported in the India income tax returns. Accordingly, the scheme may be available to eligible employees.

To aid employee awareness, Vialto is conducting a series of employee education sessions covering the below:

• Overview of residential status and taxability rules of India
• Understand obligations and implications under the Black Money Act for reporting foreign assets and income
• Identify what qualifies as a reportable foreign asset
• Taxability of equity participation in the hands of the employee – stages (employment income, dividend, capital gain on sale), value, timing etc.
• Foreign tax credit on doubly taxed foreign income – how to claim under the tax treaty?
• Detailed walkthrough of foreign asset reporting (Schedules FA & AL)
• Other important related reporting sections – demo
• Guidance on e-filing and documentation requirements
• Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
• Practical insights on handling tax authority queries
• FAST DS – eligibility, procedure, forms, timelines, etc.

Why does this matter now?

The Indian tax authorities have increasingly focused on foreign asset disclosures, and the introduction of this scheme further reinforces enforcement efforts.

Supporting your employees

The sessions may be an in-person or a webinar, as per your requirements and employee size. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss further and we would be happy to send across the our fee structure and session timings for your consideration.

Contact us

For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:

Ishita Sengupta
India Lead

Sundeep Agarwal
Partner

Ravi Jain
Partner

Anand Dhelia
Partner

Chander Talreja
Partner

Hitesh Sharma
Partner

Nishant Kumar
Partner

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Vialto Partners (“Vialto”) refers to wholly owned subsidiaries of CD&R Galaxy UK OpCo Limited as well as the other members of the Vialto Partners global network. The information contained in this document is for general guidance on matters of interest only. Vialto is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. All information is provided “as is”, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will Vialto, its related entities, or the agents or employees thereof be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the information in this document or for any consequential, special or similar damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

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