Clarification on ITR - Foreign Asset Declaration for ESOPs

Tax queries 1248 views 1 replies

I need some guidance regarding the disclosure of foreign assets in my ITR.

I hold foreign company stocks through ESOPs. When they vest, the value is taxed as part of my salary, and this is already reflected in Form 12/Form 16 provided by my employer. In earlier years, my previous CA advised me that since tax was already paid and I had not sold the shares, there was no need to declare them in the Schedule FA section. Accordingly, I did not include them in past ITRs.

However, this year I consulted a different CA, who has advised that all foreign assets should in fact be reported in Schedule FA.

My concerns are:

  1. For FY23 and FY24, the vested stocks were already taxed and shown in Form 16, but were not declared in Schedule FA. Should I now only declare the FY25 vested stocks, or should I also include the details of FY23 and FY24 in the current AY25–26 filing?

  2. If I need to declare earlier years’ vested stocks now, should the acquisition date reflect the actual vesting year (FY23/FY24) or can it all be shown under FY25?

  3. If I disclose everything now, will this trigger any issue or notice for not declaring in earlier ITRs, even though tax has already been paid on vesting?

  4. Is there any risk of penalty, given that this was not intentional and I have already paid the required tax on vesting?

I want to ensure I handle this correctly without making major mistakes, since there was no intent to hide these assets. Please guide me on the right approach to resolve this properly.

Thanks in advance.

Replies (1)
  1. Total holding as on 31st march...
  2. FY 2023-24, actual year
  3.  Little chance...
  4. Not much anticipated for just non-declaration.


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