A special compliance campaign by the Income Tax Department has resulted in taxpayers declaring foreign assets and income worth ₹30,300 crore, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha.

Over 30,000 taxpayers revised their income tax returns (ITRs) or filed belated returns for the assessment year 2024-25 as part of this initiative.

How the Campaign Worked

The department sent SMS and emails to 19,501 taxpayers, urging them to review their ITRs based on foreign deposit data collected. This led to:

11,162 taxpayers revising ITRs, declaring ₹11,259 crore in foreign assets and ₹154 crore in foreign income.

883 taxpayers correcting their status from “resident” to “non-resident” in revised returns.

13,516 taxpayers declaring foreign assets of ₹7,564 crore and foreign income of ₹353 crore.

Increase in Voluntary Disclosures

The campaign led to a 45.17% year-on-year jump in voluntary foreign asset disclosures for 2024-25 compared to the previous year. The number of taxpayers declaring foreign assets has surged from 60,000 in 2021-22 to 2,31,452 in 2024-25.

Global Information Sharing and Compliance Measures

India receives financial data from 108+ countries under the Common Reporting Standards (CRS), including details on foreign bank accounts, dividends, and interest earnings.

125+ countries participate in automatic financial information exchanges.

The US shares similar data with India under the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), 2010.

CBDT’s Compliance-Cum-Awareness Campaign

Launched on November 17, 2024, the campaign used a system-driven, taxpayer-friendly approach to encourage voluntary compliance. The IT department provided step-by-step guides to help taxpayers declare foreign assets and income correctly.