The Income Tax Department is preparing to target about 25,000 taxpayers who may not have disclosed their foreign assets in their income tax returns (ITRs) for Assessment Year 2025-26, PTI reported, citing sources earlier this week.
All these individuals linked to “high-risk” cases initiated by foreign governments’ sharing of global data are expected to be contacted via SMS and emails as part of a “nudge” campaign. International jurisdictions shared this information under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) framework.
25,000 ‘high-risk’ taxpayers to be targeted
As part of its first phase efforts to target the reported “high-risk” cases, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will be sending SMS and/or emails to the concerned people soon. The PTI report further details that officials will demand these taxpayers to the file revised income tax returns by December 31, 2025, to stay clear of penalties.
Mid-December, the government’s campaign will head into its second phase. During this period, officials will reportedly include other such cases in the loop as well to uphold compliance.
According to the Black Money Act, a Rs 10 lakh penalty is placed for failing to disclose foreign assets. This stands apart from a tax of 30% and a 300% penalty on the tax payable.
Income Tax Department issues statement
In a statement, reported by the PTI, the I-T department addressed the issue, saying, “Analysis of AEOI information for FY 2024-25 (CY 2024) had identified high-risk cases where foreign assets appear to exist but have not been reported in the ITRs filed for AY 2025-26.”
Repeat of last year
Much like the freshly reported ‘nudge’ campaign efforts, authorities had also contacted concerned taxpayers last year over their reported holdings of undisclosed foreign assets. The PTI report suggests these assets were not mentioned in the ITRs for AY 2024-25.
As a result, 24,678 taxpayers (including those who did not get the SMS/emails) were forced to revise their ITRs to disclosed foreign assets. These numbers reportedly amounted to Rs 29,208 crore, including Rs 1,089.88 crore worth of income coming from foreign sources, in AY 2024-25.
Sources shared with PTI that the income tax department had already looked into nearly 1,080 cases until June 2025. Insider also spilled to the outlet that searches had been conducted in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune after data brought Dubai-sourced investments to light, along with income and foreign assets worth hundreds of crores.
