Jointly held foreign asset

1. Jointly Held Foreign Account (US stock trading account)

• Since you mentioned 100% of funds are contributed by you, and all income (dividends, capital gains) is shown in your ITR, the entire tax liability is yours.

  • The spouse (if no contribution, no beneficial ownership) is not required to show income or pay tax.

• Schedule FA disclosure in your ITR:

  • You should declare the foreign account in your ITR, including:

    • Country name (US)

    • Institution name

    • Account number (masked)

    • Peak balance during the year

    • Closing balance at year-end

  • Mention it as a joint account in the relevant column. The ITR utility has a field to mark whether it’s an individual, joint (with spouse), or any other type of holding.

• Does spouse need to disclose?

  • If spouse is a resident in India, yes, technically Schedule FA instructions say all joint holders must disclose foreign assets, even if not beneficial owners. But in practice, if you are the sole beneficial owner, it’s sufficient for you to disclose in your ITR.

  • To be extra safe: Your spouse can also declare the account in her Schedule FA with a note that she is a joint holder without beneficial interest (beneficial owner = you).

• Practical Recommendation:

  • If the account is purely for convenience and only you operate and declare tax, keeping it in a single name (yours) avoids ambiguity under Indian compliance.

  • But joint holding is not wrong, provided you disclose properly.

2. Foreign Assets Section – Do you need to list each stock/bond separately?

• Schedule FA requires disclosure of the account and its balances, not each stock or bond transaction.

• You do not need to list every single share or treasury bond separately with acquisition dates.

• Instead, you disclose at a summary level:

  • Type of asset (Equity/Financial Interest)

  • Account details (brokerage account in US)

  • Peak value during the year (USD → INR converted using SBI TTBR on reporting date)

  • Closing value at year-end.

• The individual transactions (purchase/sale of stocks) will be reflected only in:

  • Schedule CG (Capital Gains) for sales during the year,

  • Schedule OS (Other Sources) for dividends.

So, Schedule FA ≠ Transaction statement. It’s asset reporting only.

Feel free to connect if you need assistance in ITR filing !

Thanks & Regards,
CA Damini Agarwal

1. Tax liability – Since you funded 100%, income is taxable only in your hands. Your spouse need not declare or pay tax.

2. Disclosure – Only you must show the account in Schedule FA. Spouse has no disclosure requirement. No need to mention “joint” specifically.

3. Holding style – Single name is cleaner for Indian tax compliance, but joint is okay if only you disclose.

4. Transactions – You don’t report each stock/bond buy. Just disclose the brokerage account as one asset (peak balance, closing balance, and income separately in OS/CG).

1. Spouse who has funded for the stocks is a beneficial and legal owner of the stocks. Mention legal owner in the column of ownership

Other Spouse who has not funded for the stocks but holding it jointly is a beneficiary. Mention beneficiary in the column of ownership. He/she should also disclose the entire joint holding

2. Disclose the holding transaction wise/Item wise

For detailed discussion you may opt for phone consultation