Foreign Assets Undisclosed? FAST-DS Form 1 Is Now Live

The Income Tax Department has launched Form 1 on the e-filing portal for the FAST-DS 2026 scheme — a one-time window for Indians to come clean about foreign assets and income before penalties kick in.

Here's what happened: The Income Tax Department has enabled Form 1 for the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme (FAST-DS) 2026 on its official e-filing portal, incometax.gov.in.. FAST-DS is a one-time voluntary disclosure scheme allowing Indian taxpayers to declare previously unreported foreign assets and foreign-sourced income before enforcement action begins.. Non-disclosure of foreign assets under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 can attract a ₹10 lakh penalty per asset plus 30% tax on the asset's value..

What you should do: Log into incometax.gov.in and navigate to the FAST-DS section to check if Form 1 is accessible under your PAN — the window is time-limited.. Review your past ITR filings for Schedule FA (Foreign Assets) — if you held any overseas bank account, property, equity, or insurance policy and did not report it, you may need to file now.. Consult a tax professional before filing Form 1 if you are unsure about valuation of foreign assets — incorrect disclosure can itself trigger scrutiny..

ESOPs granted by a foreign parent company to Indian employees are foreign assets — even if you never sold them. Most salaried professionals miss this in Schedule FA and unknowingly stay non-compliant.

For readers weighing their credit and loan options, our personal loan guide and CIBIL score resources put this update in context.