I-T dept to nudge taxpayers to declare foreign wealth

The department was able to collect 30,000 crore disclosed in the previous Nudge drive

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

The income tax department will launch a campaign on Friday, nudging approximately 25,000 high-risk assessees to come clean about their undisclosed foreign income and assets that the tax authority has come to know about, following a similar previous drive that led to the disclosure of over ₹30,000 crore.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex direct tax policy-making body, said on Thursday it will send text messages and emails to identified taxpayers, advising them to voluntarily review and revise their tax returns before the end of December to avoid penalties.

‘The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act of 2015 provides for a penalty of ₹10 lakh for nondisclosure of foreign assets, in addition to a tax of 30% and a penalty of 300% on the tax payable.

The first such campaign, launched in November 2024, targeted select taxpayers who were flagged by foreign tax jurisdictions as asset holders but had not disclosed the same in their income tax returns in India for the assessment year 2024-25.