What exactly goes on Schedule FA if I live in India?
Schedule FA is the dedicated part of the Indian return where foreign assets are reported, and it is drawn widely. Bank and custodial accounts, shares and other securities, interests in entities, and signing authority over an account held by somebody else all belong there, with no minimum value to clear first. The schedule asks for identifying details of the institution and of the holding rather than a single figure, so most of the work is in assembling records for each item. The sensible order is to build a complete inventory and then fill the schedule from it, rather than filling it from memory.
Is there a minimum balance before a foreign account is reportable?
No. There is no value threshold at all. One overseas bank account with a nominal balance, one foreign share, or signing authority on an account belonging to a relative or an employer is enough to require disclosure. This is the most common misunderstanding we see, usually because other countries' reporting regimes do have thresholds and the assumption travels with the client. The absence of a floor also means a dormant account nobody has looked at for years is a reporting item, so the inventory has to be complete rather than merely material.
How does the tax department find out about my foreign account?
Largely because it is told. India receives information about accounts held abroad automatically from foreign institutions, and what you report is tested against what arrives. That is why the mismatch, rather than the omission in the abstract, is usually what prompts a query: the department already holds a record that your schedule does not match. It also means disclosure built from a complete inventory is far easier to stand behind than one assembled item by item as questions come in. We prepare the inventory first for that reason.
I have signing authority on my employer's overseas account — reportable?
Yes, and it is reported whether or not the money is yours. Signing authority over an account held by someone else, whether an employer, a parent or a company you work for, is a disclosure item in its own right, and having no beneficial interest does not remove it. What you need is the institution's confirmation of the account particulars and of the dates your authority ran, which usually has to come from the account holder rather than from you. Asking early matters, because employers can be slow to provide it.
Do I still report a foreign account I closed during the year?
An account held at any point in the year is part of the picture, so closing it partway through does not make it disappear from the schedule. What the schedule wants includes the details of the account and the period it was held, which is precisely why closing statements are worth keeping at the time rather than requesting later. Banks abroad archive or destroy records for closed accounts on their own timetable, not yours. If a closure is coming, download the statements and the closing confirmation before it happens.
What happens if I have not reported foreign assets for years?
It is dealt with under a separate statute from ordinary tax law, with its own assessment powers and its own penalties, which is why it is not safely treated as a late-filing problem. The first step is still factual: establish which years you were fully resident, build the inventory, and work out precisely what was omitted in each year. That position, documented, is what any route forward depends on. We do that work on a fixed fee agreed in writing before it starts, and you can reach us on +1 (416) 619-0068.
Do foreign shares, ESOPs and RSUs count as foreign assets in an Indian return?
Yes. Equity held directly, shares acquired under an employee plan once they have vested to you, units in foreign funds, the custodial account they sit in and the foreign bank account that funds it are all disclosable by a resident — separately, with acquisition cost, peak value and income for the year. This is where returning employees of multinational groups most often have a gap, because the plan administrator reports to the employer, not to you. See Schedule FA reporting.
How long do I have to be out of the country to stop being resident?
There is no single period that settles it. Canada looks at whether your ties were actually severed, not at a day count; the United States taxes citizens regardless of where they live; India applies day-count thresholds with a second limb reaching back over earlier years. Time abroad is evidence, not a rule — what decides it is where your home, family and economic life sit. See tax residency.
