Schedule FA is mandatory if you hold any foreign asset at year-end — including a US brokerage account with zero balance if it remained open. Non-disclosure is treated severely under the Black Money Act. The compliance cost is small; the penalty for non-disclosure is not.
Operating a US brokerage account
4 min · For educational purposes only
Practical mechanics for funding, trading and reconciling a US brokerage account under Indian exchange control.
The flow
- Fund via LRS to your offshore brokerage account
- Trade in USD; receive dividends net of US withholding
- Track every transaction in INR for Indian tax reporting
- File Schedule FA in your ITR (foreign asset disclosure)
- Repatriate to your INR account; no re-remittance permission needed
Things that catch people
Key takeaways
- Schedule FA disclosure is mandatory, not optional.
- INR cost basis must be tracked per transaction.
- Repatriation back to India is unrestricted within LRS rules.