FAST DS - Budget 2026

👉 No, you will NOT pay 30% + 30% + 30% separately

• It will be a combined tax + reduced penalty structure (~30% + levy)

👉 Scheme is NOT operational yet

• Guidelines / forms awaited

👉 Yes, you SHOULD disclose in current ITR (Schedule FA)

• Even if past years were missed

Thank you for the reply

The FAST scheme in Budget 2026 is a one-time disclosure window under the new Income Tax Act 2025 for undisclosed foreign assets held by Indian residents.

WHO IT COVERS:
- Indian tax residents (including NRIs who became resident recently) holding undisclosed foreign bank accounts, foreign property, or foreign investments not previously declared in Schedule FA of their ITR
- Companies and HUFs with overseas assets not disclosed under the Black Money Act 2015

WHAT IS COVERED:
Foreign bank accounts, foreign equities and bonds, foreign immovable property, and beneficial interests in foreign trusts or entities.

TAX AND PENALTY UNDER FAST:
- Disclose voluntarily: tax at applicable rate plus a reduced penalty (typically 50% of tax, compared to 300% under the Black Money Act without disclosure)
- Do not disclose and get detected: Black Money Act penalties of 300% of undisclosed asset value plus prosecution

WINDOW PERIOD:
The specific window dates are in the Finance Bill 2026 notification. File the disclosure with your assessing officer before the window closes.

For a summary of all major Budget 2026 income tax changes and how they affect resident taxpayers, this [income tax rules 2026 overview](https://taxgarden.in/blog/income-tax-rules-2026-key-changes-india) covers the FAST scheme alongside other Budget 2026 amendments.

A one-time compliance window under the Finance Bill 2026 which will be a scheme known as FAST - DS 2026 (Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers - Disclosure Scheme) is introduced for residents, who may have failed to declare their foreign assets or income derived from sources outside of India in the past years. It is a scheme to help the small taxpayers regularise bona fide omissions with a limited protection against penalty, interest and prosecution that would be attracted on account of disclosures made under Black Money Act.

It is expected to benefit small taxpayers who have casual omissions in declaring their existing foreign financial interest. This scheme is particularly expected to be beneficial to those individual assessees who have an overseas employer that granted employee stock options/ restricted stock units (ESOPs/ RSUs); have a foreign bank account from abroad (study/ work experience); have any savings, life insurance policies, or investment located outside of India; have returning NRIs who accidentally missed to furnish required Schedule FA.

The scheme is not expected to benefit any taxpayers who are involved in serious tax evasion and as such it is proposed to exclude from its coverage taxpayer who have acquired the assets from criminal activities; taxpayers where prosecution is already pending or initiated; and other high-risk assessees.

Since, no detailed procedure or rules regarding the scheme are framed by the Government, a thorough examination of the taxpayer's current situation of past foreign assets disclosure is recommended and consultation of the qualified tax professional is to be undertaken by all taxpayers to decide on the appropriate steps. It could be an opportunity for such taxpayers to settle their prior non-disclosure issues to ward off future litigation.