On 26 October 2026, Business Today reported that the Income Tax Department had begun nudging taxpayers it suspects of holding undeclared property abroad, mainly in the UAE. The same report said the e-filing portal now displays foreign asset information reported against each PAN for calendar years 2022 to 2024. That information sits next to the annual information statement, which under the Income-tax Rules, 2026 is Form 168. A client who opens it this winter may find that the department already knows about a foreign bank account or a dividend that never reached a return.
That changes the order of work for the advisor. Until this year, the statement mostly confirmed what Indian banks and deductors had reported, such as tax collected at source on a remittance under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme. It now also reflects data sent by foreign financial institutions, and yet the department itself says that data is incomplete. The sensible response is to treat Form 168 as the department's starting point, reconcile it with the client's own records before 31 December 2026, and build the return from those records. The Indian side of that trail is covered in our guide to TCS on foreign remittance.
What Form 168 is and what it replaced
The Income Tax Department's FAQ on Form 168 lists it as the statement earlier known as Form 26AS. It is issued under Section 510 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and Rule 245 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which correspond to Section 285BB and Rule 114-I under the old law. Part A holds general details such as PAN, name and address. Part B covers tax deducted and collected at source, specified financial transactions, tax payments, demands and refunds. It also holds a group of other information, which includes outward foreign remittances and purchases of foreign currency.
The new number matters less than what the statement now carries. Taxscan reported in July that the portal offers both forms, and that Form 26AS will no longer be issued for the new tax year. Clients will therefore meet Form 168 for tax year 2026-27 while the old statement remains in place for earlier years. In both cases the client reaches it through the same e-filing login, which is also where the foreign data described below is displayed.
How foreign account data reached the statement
On 8 July 2026 the CBDT issued an order on information received under automatic exchange agreements, according to a KPMG note on the order. It allows the Directorate General of Income-tax (Systems) to upload that information into each taxpayer's annual information statement. Automatic exchange covers the Common Reporting Standard, under which tax authorities share financial account data, and the India-US agreement under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, known as FATCA. Information for calendar years 2022 to 2024 was to be uploaded within 90 days of the order. Later information follows within 90 days from the end of the month in which it arrives.
A CBDT office memorandum of 17 July 2026 then set out where taxpayers find it. After logging in, the client opens the AIS, goes to the Reports tab and selects Foreign Assets Information for a given year. The note attached to the memorandum said data for calendar year 2025 would follow once it was received in September or October 2026. A statement opened now may therefore hold a year of foreign data that was not there in the summer, which is why a check done in July is not enough.
What the statement shows and what it leaves out
The department's note says the data may include foreign bank accounts, custodial accounts, certain financial investments, interest, dividends and other specified financial income. It also calls the information facilitative in nature and says it is not a complete or exhaustive record of a taxpayer's foreign assets and income. Clients must still report every foreign asset in Schedule FA and all foreign-source income in Schedule FSI, the note adds, whether or not either appears in the statement.
That warning matters most for holdings that are not bank or custody accounts. The Business Today report said the portal shows only information from CRS and FATCA partners, while data from other arrangements and other intelligence is held but not displayed. Property abroad and shares in a private foreign company may sit outside the categories the note lists. So may an interest in a US corporation that owns real estate, the blocker structure explained in our guide to US commercial real estate for advisors. A client whose statement looks clean is therefore not necessarily a client whose return is complete.
Reading the remittance trail in Form 168
The Indian side of a foreign investment is usually the easiest part to check, because the bank reports it. For example, a client remits ₹40 lakh under LRS for investment in tax year 2026-27. Under Section 394 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, TCS of 20 per cent applies to the ₹30 lakh above the ₹10 lakh threshold, which comes to ₹6 lakh. That ₹6 lakh should appear under TCS information in Part B of Form 168, and the remittance itself should appear among outward foreign remittances. If the figures differ, the credit claimed in the return will not match what the department sees, so the bank's TCS certificate in Form 133 is the document to compare.
The remittance entry also starts a second trail. Money sent abroad for investment should later appear as an asset in Schedule FA, and any income from it should appear in Schedule FSI. When the statement shows a large outward remittance but the return shows no foreign asset, the department has an easy question to ask. Advisors who match each remittance to the asset it bought, year by year, can answer that question before anyone asks it.
What advisors should do before 31 December
Two dates frame the work. A return for tax year 2025-26 can be revised without a fee until 31 December 2026, and with a fee until 31 March 2027. FAST-DS, the one-time disclosure scheme for smaller foreign asset gaps, closes on 31 December 2026, and Business Today reported, citing sources, that about 1,100 taxpayers had applied by late October. The steps below follow the order in which the evidence arrives.
- Download the annual statement and the Foreign Assets Information report for every available year, including calendar year 2025 once it appears.
- Match each foreign entry to the client's bank and custody statements, and to Schedule FA and Schedule FSI in the returns already filed.
- Mark wrong or duplicate entries through the portal's Give Feedback option, which the FAQ says lets a taxpayer flag an item as incorrect, duplicate or not related.
- Agree the route for each genuine gap with the client and their CA, whether a revised return or a FAST-DS declaration.
The last step depends on what kind of gap the advisor has found, and our piece on FAST-DS 2026 and the foreign asset gaps advisors will find explains how each kind is usually fixed. The client's Indian tax position stays with the client and their CA, and the advisor's role is to make sure the evidence is assembled in time. Advisors who introduce eligible clients through Raveum's partner page will recognise the same pattern in US real estate, because each investment remittance produces a TCS entry and the interest it buys belongs in Schedule FA. Private US real estate also carries risks that no tax statement shows, including loss of capital, illiquidity, falling property values, distributions that are not paid and currency movements.
The nudges reported last week show the department putting its new foreign data to use, and Form 168 is where clients will see that data first. Even so, the statement remains a partial view, built from what banks at home and abroad have chosen to report. An advisor who reconciles it now, line by line, turns a document that could prompt a notice into a record the client controls. The rest of the Indian trail, from TCS rates to the Form 133 certificate, is set out in our full guide to TCS on foreign remittance.
Frequently asked questions
What is Form 168 in income tax?
Form 168 is the annual information statement under the Income-tax Rules, 2026, and it succeeds Form 26AS. It is issued under Section 510 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and shows tax deducted and collected at source, specified financial transactions, tax payments, refunds and other information, including outward foreign remittances. Taxpayers view it after logging in to the e-filing portal.
Is Form 168 the same as Form 26AS?
Form 168 does the same job as Form 26AS but belongs to the new law. The Income Tax Department's FAQ lists it as Form 168, earlier Form 26AS, and the governing provision moves from Section 285BB of the 1961 Act to Section 510 of the 2025 Act. Statements for earlier years under the old law remain on the portal.
How can a client see foreign assets information in AIS?
The client logs in to the e-filing portal, opens the AIS, goes to the Reports tab, selects Foreign Assets Information, chooses a year and downloads the PDF. A CBDT memorandum of 17 July 2026 set out these steps. Calendar years 2022 to 2024 were loaded first, and 2025 data was expected in September or October 2026.
Where does the foreign information in AIS come from?
It comes from foreign financial institutions through automatic exchange of information, mainly the Common Reporting Standard and the India-US agreement under FATCA. A CBDT order of 8 July 2026 allowed this data to be uploaded into each taxpayer's statement. The department describes the information as facilitative and warns that it is not a complete record of foreign assets.
What should a client do if Form 168 shows a wrong entry?
The client can select the entry on the portal, choose Give Feedback and mark it as incorrect, duplicate or not related, according to the Income Tax Department's FAQ. Feedback does not change a return already filed, so the advisor should keep the bank or custody statement that proves the correct position with the client's tax records.
What is the risk if Form 168 shows foreign income the client did not report?
A mismatch between the statement and the return can lead to enquiries, notices, scrutiny or reassessment, and undisclosed foreign assets can also bring the Black Money Act into play. KPMG has warned that such mismatches raise the chance of scrutiny. The client and their CA should decide before 31 December 2026 whether a revised return or FAST-DS fits.
This article is for general education and is not tax, legal or investment advice. Rules change and depend on individual circumstances. All investing involves risk, including loss of capital, illiquidity and currency movements. Offerings on Raveum are available to eligible investors only and are not open to the general public.
