Over 30K taxpayers disclose Rs 29,208-cr assets held abroad

The Centre has successfully uncovered Rs 29,208 crore worth of undeclared foreign assets and Rs 1,089 crore in foreign income from 30,161 taxpayers through a voluntary disclosure scheme, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The announcement came as Parliament passed the Finance Bill 2025, marking the completion of this year’s Budget process.

47K with Rs 5.91 lakh cr tax dues untraceable

47,674 direct tax defaulters who owe over Rs 5.91 lakh crore to the government have been declared untraceable

In case of indirect taxes, 60,853 defaulters with Rs 43,525 cr dues have been declared untraceable, MoS Pankaj Chaudhary told Parliament

The recoveries were made possible through what Sitharaman described as a “nudge scheme”, where the Centre reached out to taxpayers with information about their overseas holdings and encouraged them to voluntarily revise their income tax returns.

Sitharaman referred to India’s agreement with foreign countries whereby the Centre received information about accounts being held outside the country and where cases would have to be filed in courts if tax evasion was detected. “Since not all accounts are of people holding unaccounted money and there are genuine accounts too, we adopted the policy of nudging taxpayers that we have information about their properties and deposits abroad and if they would like to do something about it,” the FM told the Lok Sabha.

The Centre sent communications to 19,501 select taxpayers, prompting them to review their tax returns for 2024-25. This outreach proved effective, with 11,162 taxpayers coming forward to declare Rs 11,259 crore in foreign assets and Rs 154 crore in foreign income. The campaign created a ripple effect, leading an additional 13,516 taxpayers to voluntarily disclose Rs 7,564 crore in assets and Rs 353 crore in income that hadn’t been previously reported.

She said additionally 883 taxpayers reviewed their ITRs and corrected their status from resident to non-resident.

“In the revised return for 2024-25, they mentioned they were not residents but non-residents and should be treated accordingly. Cumulatively, this simple nudge resulted in the declaration of foreign assets worth Rs 29,208 crore.”

So, the nudge campaign about property abroad had yielded good results with tax assessees disclosing their properties and also paying tax due to them, she added.

Nation