Hi,
One of my friends received the below email:
'Our records indicate that you may have overseas financial interests (such as bank accounts, shares, or immovable property etc.) acquired in earlier years, that are required to be reported in Income Tax Return.
If your overseas financial interests (assets/ income) have been left unreported in your earlier Income Tax Returns or have been acquired through undisclosed sources, we encourage you to utilize the ongoing, one-time compliance window under the FAST-DS (Foreign Asset of Small Taxpayers - Disclosure Scheme). This dedicated window is open till 31.12.2026. Also, you may view your Foreign Assets Information on the AIS through e-filing portal. Note: This is an automated advisory to facilitate voluntary compliance and is not a legal notice.'
He had already updated his status as Non-Resident on the Income Tax portal. However, when he went for vaccation he visited an Aadhaar enrolment/update centre to update his demographic details, the operator changed his status from Non-Resident to Resident as part of the update process. Even though he questioned this change, he was informed that it was the only way they could complete the update.
Subsequently, he reactivated his dormant Demat and trading accounts which by default activated in resident status. He is currently in the process of updating those accounts back to Non-Resident status.
After returning overseas, he received the above system-generated email at the end of September. Upon checking the Income Tax portal, he noticed that his status had automatically changed from Non-Resident to Resident. Despite this, he has been filing his Income Tax Returns as a Non-Resident.
He also reviewed the AIS (Annual Information Statement) under the Foreign Assets reporting section and found that no foreign assets or income had been reported there.
He has now updated his profile status on the Income Tax portal back to Non-Resident.
Does he need to update his Non-Resident status anywhere else, or is there any additional action he should take in response to this email?
CAclubindia
