CBDT now shows your foreign bank accounts and assets in AIS — check before you file

Days before the 31 July 2026 ITR deadline, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has switched on a new disclosure feature that matters a lot for anyone with money or investments abroad: your Annual Information Statement (AIS) on the e-filing portal can now show foreign bank accounts, investment accounts, and certain overseas income that other countries have reported to India.

What changed

Under a CBDT order dated 8 July 2026, data received through the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) framework — built on the global Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and the US FATCA agreement — is now being uploaded into eligible taxpayers’ AIS. This includes details of:

• Foreign bank accounts
• Foreign investment/demat-style accounts
• Interest, dividends, and other specified foreign income reported by partner-country tax authorities

The AIS currently carries this data for calendar years 2022, 2023 and 2024; information for 2025 is expected to be added only in September–October 2026, after India receives it from partner jurisdictions.

Why it matters right now

If you’re filing ITR-2 or ITR-3 and have any foreign bank account, foreign equity/RSUs, or overseas income, Schedule FA (Foreign Assets) is mandatory — and getting it wrong or skipping it can trigger penalties under the Black Money Act, separate from ordinary income-tax scrutiny. With this AEOI data now visible in AIS, the department effectively already holds a copy of what you should be declaring.

CBDT has clarified the AIS foreign-asset data is facilitative, not exhaustive — it isn’t a complete record of everything you hold abroad, and the onus to correctly report Schedule FA still rests entirely on the taxpayer.

What to do before you file

• Log in to the e-filing portal and check the AIS/Compliance section for any foreign account or income entries under your PAN.
• Cross-check against your own records — don’t assume AIS is complete; report all foreign assets and income you actually hold, even if AIS shows nothing.
• NRIs who became residents mid-year should be especially careful, since residency status changes often coincide with newly reportable foreign accounts.
• If you spot a mismatch or an entry that isn’t yours, use the AIS feedback option to flag it rather than ignoring it.

Reconcile your final tax position with the income tax calculator, and check which regime works better for you on the old regime tax calculator before submitting your return.

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Source: Business Standard — Taxpayers can view foreign asset details in AIS ahead of I-T return filing; CAclubindia — CBDT Enables Foreign Assets Reporting in AIS.