CBDT Puts Foreign Income Under the Scanner: Your Overseas Details Now Visible in AIS

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has taken a major transparency step by directing that foreign financial information received from other countries will now be displayed in the assessee’s Annual Information Statement (AIS). This change flows from a CBDT Order dated 8 July 2026, and will significantly affect individuals holding or dealing with foreign bank accounts, overseas shares, ESOPs, foreign mutual funds and similar assets.

Earlier, such information was available only within the systems of the Income Tax Department. Now, under this new framework, the same data will be visible to the assessee in their own AIS (including in Form 26AS), enabling both better compliance and faster detection of omissions.

This article unpacks what this change means, what exactly will appear in AIS, how to evaluate whether tax is payable, and the practical steps an assessee should now take for filing returns and regularising past years.

1. What Has CBDT Changed?

Under global information exchange arrangements, India regularly receives financial details from more than 100 foreign jurisdictions. These typically relate to:

  • Foreign bank accounts
  • Overseas securities (shares, mutual funds, ETFs, etc.)
  • Dividends and interest from foreign sources
  • Proceeds from sale of foreign securities
  • Certain other financial holdings and income streams

Until now, this data primarily informed departmental assessments and risk-based scrutiny. The assessee could not see this foreign information directly in the AIS, creating an information asymmetry: the department knew, but the assessee often did not know precisely what had been reported about them.

1.1 The Core Change Under the CBDT Order Dated 8 July 2026

Under the Order dated 8 July 2026, CBDT has mandated that foreign financial information received under automatic exchange arrangements will be made visible in the assessee’s:

  • AIS, and
  • Form 26AS, alongside regular items like TDS, TCS and specified transactions.

In effect: The “confidential file” of your foreign income and assets maintained by the department will now be reflected on your own AIS screen.

1.2 Coverage Period – Past and Ongoing Years

The Order has also prescribed timelines for uploading past and current information:

  • Calendar years 2022, 2023 and 2024

    • Information for these three calendar years will be uploaded within 90 days from the date of the Order (i.e., around October 2026).
    • This means that historical foreign transactions will suddenly become visible in the AIS in one consolidated phase.

  • Calendar year 2025 onwards

    • Data for the calendar year 2025 will be uploaded as and when it is received from foreign authorities.
    • Going forward, this will be an ongoing exercise in line with the yearly exchange of information.

2. What Will Actually Show Up in AIS? Practical Scenarios

To understand the ground-level impact, consider a few everyday situations with changed names and amounts for illustration.

2.1 Regular Investor in US Stocks

Example 1 – The App-Based Global Investor
Mr. Sharma, residing in India, invests ₹7,500 per month into US technology shares through a mobile-based investment platform. He periodically:

  • Receives dividends in USD, and
  • Sells some of these foreign shares, earning capital gains.

Under the new mechanism:

  • His foreign shareholdings,
  • Dividend payouts, and
  • Sale transactions and proceeds

will start appearing in his AIS, sourced from information shared by foreign jurisdictions.

2.2 Indian Employee with Foreign ESOPs / RSUs

Example 2 – The IT Professional with ESOPs
Ms. Verma works for the Indian subsidiary of a US-headquartered software company. She has been granted RSUs and ESOPs of the foreign parent entity.