Under tax laws, all foreign assets must be disclosed annually in the FA Schedule of ITR-2 or ITR-3, even if they generate no income. Failure to report, even when there is no tax to pay, can attract a ₹10 lakh annual penalty and up to seven years imprisonment under the Act.

The budget has introduced a one‑time, six-month Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers—Disclosure Scheme, 2026 (FAST-DS) that allows taxpayers to disclose foreign assets from any past years. But this relief is no free lunch, as taxpayers will be required to pay additional taxes and penalties, albeit lower than those slapped under black money Act. The government is yet to announce when the six-month timeline starts.

This year, the spectacle was almost comical. With very little to actually discuss on the personal finance front, commentators were left spinning minor tweaks into major developments and hunting desperately for something—anything—that would justify the hype.