India's Income Tax Department has begun contacting select taxpayers about possibly undisclosed UAE property, with a voluntary disclosure scheme open until December 31, 2026.
According to Gulf News — Business/Property, citing Indian media reports and Finance Ministry sources, India's Income Tax Department has recently "nudged select taxpayers" who invested in residential or commercial property in the UAE. The messages urge them to review whether their foreign assets and income have been correctly disclosed in Indian tax returns. The report stresses that such a nudge is not a tax demand and not proof that a property was bought with undisclosed income. The outreach coincides with the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers – Disclosure Scheme, 2026 (FAST-DS), a one-time voluntary window that closes on December 31, 2026. Around 1,100 applications have reportedly been received. The scheme has two categories. For undisclosed foreign assets or income of up to Rs 10 million, the payment is 30% tax plus an additional amount equal to the tax, i.e. 60% in total. For assets worth up to Rs 50 million that were bought with income already taxed in India or while the owner was a non-resident, but were left out of the foreign-asset schedule of the return, a fixed fee of Rs 1 million applies. Both are subject to the scheme's eligibility conditions. The report says India receives data on some overseas accounts via CRS and FATCA, and that the e-filing portal now shows foreign-reported information linked to a taxpayer's PAN for 2022–2024, although not everything the department holds is displayed. Participation in FAST-DS is voluntary, and an owner whose asset and source of funds were correctly reported may not need to declare anything. For unresolved omissions, the article outlines possible consequences under the Black Money Act, 2015: 30% tax, a penalty of three times the tax, a separate Rs 10 million penalty for specified failures, and prosecution in serious cases of wilful evasion. This is a summary of the reported information, not tax advice; individual cases depend on residency status, source of funds and the scheme's rules.