Indian Taxpayers Must Report Foreign Assets Using SBI's TTBR Exchange Rate

If you've got foreign shares or any foreign assets, you need to declare them in your Income Tax Return (ITR) in India for AY 2026-2027 (FY 2025-2027). The ITR filing deadline for students, salaried employees, pensioners and others who don't need a tax audit is July 31, 2026. For Tax Year 2026-2027, the ITR filing due date is July 31, 2027.

Just a heads up, even if you are not making any money from your foreign assets, you still have to report them in your ITR. The tricky part is figuring out the exchange rate since these assets are in foreign currency and you need to convert them to INR for the Indian ITR. The answer is to use SBI's TTBR rate that you can find online.

The reason you should stick to SBI's TTBR rate is that the Income Tax Rules specifically require it. Plus, the exchange rates you see online can vary, which might lead to mistakes in your ITR reporting.

SBI TTBR rate and Schedule FA

While furnishing the ITR, any amount denominated in a foreign currency must be converted into Indian Rupees using the Telegraphic Transfer Buying Rate (TTBR) of the State Bank of India (SBI), as applicable on the relevant date.

The relevant date for conversion depends upon the nature of the amount being reported, as explained below:

Particulars Exchange Rate Relevant Date

Peak balance in a foreign bank account TTBR Date on which the peak balance occurred

Value of investment in a foreign asset TTBR Date of acquisition of the investment

Foreign-sourced income TTBR Closing date of the relevant calendar year (i.e., December 31, 2025 for AY 2026-27)

Source: Taxmann research

The snapshot below shows SBI's TTBR rate as on July 9, 2026:

TTBR (Telegraphic Transfer Buying Rate) is the rate of exchange adopted by the State Bank of India for buying the relevant foreign currency through telegraphic transfer, based on the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India.

For reporting foreign assets in Schedule FA for AY2026-27, the relevant reporting period is the calendar year from 1st January 2025 to 31st December 2025.

Taxpayers shouldn't use exchange rates available on internet portals or commercial websites just because they are readily accessible. Such rates may differ from the Telegraphic Transfer Buying Rate prescribed under the Income-tax Rules and may result in incorrect reporting of foreign assets or foreign income.

Taxmann research says that while furnishing the income tax return (ITR), taxpayers should use the applicable SBI Telegraphic Transfer Buying Rate for the relevant date and retain appropriate records of the exchange rate adopted.