If you earned anything in a foreign currency last year — a salary credited abroad, RSUs that vested on a US listing, dividends from Apple or Microsoft, interest in a foreign bank account, or capital gains on foreign stocks — Indian income-tax law does not let you pick a convenient exchange rate. Rule 115 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 (and, from FY 2026-27, Rule 206 under the Income-tax Act, 2025) fixes exactly one rate for each rupee figure in your return: the State Bank of India telegraphic transfer (TT) buying rate on a legally defined “specified date”. Use the wrong date — or a Google/RBI rate — and every converted number in your ITR is wrong.
By the numbers: failing to report a foreign asset in Schedule FA can attract a penalty of up to ₹10 lakh per year per failure under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, 2015 — even where tax on the income was already paid. The new Income-tax Act, 2025 (536 sections, assented 21 August 2025) takes effect from 1 April 2026, renumbering the conversion rule from Rule 115 to Rule 206. Source: Income Tax Department.
The specified date at a glance — old Rule 115 vs new Rule 206
| Income type | SBI TTBR date to use | Old rule (up to FY 2025-26) | New rule (FY 2026-27 on) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary, incl. RSU / ESOP perquisite | Last day of the month before the month salary fell due (or was paid in advance/arrears) | Rule 115(1), Expl. cl. (2)(a) | Rule 206(1), cl. (a) |
| Capital gains — sale of foreign asset | Last day of the month before the month of transfer | Expl. cl. (2)(f) | Rule 206, cl. (f) |
| Dividends | Last day of the month before the month declared/distributed/paid | Expl. cl. (2)(e) | Rule 206, cl. (e) |
| Ordinary foreign bank interest (other sources) | 31 March (last day of the previous year) | Expl. cl. (2)(c) | Rule 206, cl. (c) |
| Schedule FA — closing balance / calendar-year income | 31 December rate | Schedule FA instructions | Same instructions carry forward |
“Nine out of ten conversion mistakes I see are date mistakes, not rate mistakes — people convert on the payment date instead of the specified date. Fix the date first; the rate follows automatically.” — CA Juber Attar, TaxFetch e-CA Tax Expert
What is the SBI TT buying rate (TTBR)?
Every working day, State Bank of India publishes a FOREX CARD RATES sheet quoting eight rates per currency — TT buy, TT sell, bill buy, bill sell, travel-card and currency-note rates. The TT (telegraphic transfer) buying rate is the rate at which SBI buys foreign currency received by wire transfer.
Why does income-tax law care about this one bank’s one rate? The Explanation to Rule 26 of the Income-tax Rules defines “telegraphic transfer buying rate” as the rate adopted by the State Bank of India for buying that currency, and Rule 115 adopts the same definition for converting foreign income into rupees. Under the new regime, Rule 207 plays the role Rule 26 played, and Rule 206 plays the role of Rule 115. That is why Indian ITRs use SBI’s TT buy rate — not Google, XE, or even the RBI reference rate.
Look up any SBI TTBR since Jan 2020 — free →
How does Rule 115 fix the conversion date?
Rule 115 does not use the date you received the money. It fixes a specified date per head of income:
- Salaries (including RSU and ESOP perquisites): the last day of the month immediately preceding the month in which the salary became due, or was paid in advance or arrears. RSUs vesting on 15 March 2026? Convert at the SBI TTBR of 28 February 2026.
- Interest on securities: last day of the month before the month the income fell due.
- House property, business/profession, other sources (including ordinary foreign bank interest): the last day of the previous year — i.e. 31 March.
- Dividends: last day of the month before the month the dividend was declared, distributed or paid.
- Capital gains: last day of the month before the month the asset was transferred. A US stock sold on 12 February 2026 converts at the 31 January 2026 TTBR. If the asset was bought in foreign currency, the cost of acquisition uses the same logic at the month of purchase.
Two overrides trip up even experienced filers:
- TDS override: where tax was deducted at source on the income, the specified date becomes the date tax was required to be deducted — overriding all the month-end rules above (proviso to Rule 115, read with Rule 26; proviso to Rule 206, read with Rule 207 in the new regime).
- Money already brought home: for house property, business or other-sources income actually received in or remitted to India (under FEMA) before its specified date, Rule 115(2) / Rule 206(2) does not apply — you use the actual rate on the date of receipt.
What changes under Rule 206 of the Income-tax Act 2025?
Substantively — nothing. Mechanically — the numbering. The Income-tax Act, 2025 (536 sections) received assent on 21 August 2025 and takes effect on 1 April 2026. From that date, the Income-tax Rules, 2026 renumber the conversion rule:
| Old regime (income up to FY 2025-26) | New regime (income from FY 2026-27) | |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion rule | Rule 115, Income-tax Rules 1962 | Rule 206, Income-tax Rules 2026 |
| TTBR definition borrowed from | Rule 26 | Rule 207 |
| The rate itself | SBI TT buying rate | SBI TT buying rate (unchanged) |
| Specified dates | As listed above | Same dates, clause-for-clause |
Which rule applies to you? Income of FY 2025-26 and earlier follows old Rule 115; income of FY 2026-27 onward follows new Rule 206. One caution: for the special two-step mechanism for a non-resident’s capital gains on shares or debentures of an Indian company (old Rule 115A), confirm the final gazetted 2026 rule number against the official text before a live FY 2026-27 filing.
Which exchange rate does Schedule FA use?
Schedule FA (“Foreign Assets”) in ITR-2 and ITR-3 reports foreign assets and income held at any time during the calendar year ending 31 December — not the Indian financial year. It applies to residents (ROR); non-residents and RNORs are exempt. Every rupee figure in it is converted at the SBI TT buying rate, on Schedule FA’s own dates:
| Schedule FA figure | SBI TTBR date |
|---|---|
| Peak balance / peak value of an account or investment | Rate on the date the peak occurred (not month-end, not 31 March) |
| Value of a foreign investment at acquisition | Rate on the date of investment |
| Foreign-sourced income during the year | Rate on 31 December (closing date of the calendar year) |
| Closing balance of a foreign account | Rate on 31 December |
The tables themselves, from A1 to G, cover:
- A1 — Foreign depository accounts: foreign bank accounts (savings, current, deposits) — report opening date, peak balance, closing balance and interest.
- A2 — Foreign custodial accounts: typically your foreign brokerage account (Schwab, Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, Vested, INDmoney) — peak value, closing value, and interest/dividends/sale proceeds credited.
- A3 — Foreign equity and debt interest: shares and debt held directly in a foreign entity — vested RSUs, ESPP shares, foreign stocks and bonds, with initial, peak and closing values plus income earned.
- A4 to G: foreign insurance/annuity contracts, financial interests in foreign entities, immovable property, other capital assets, signing authority over accounts, trusts, and any other foreign-sourced income.
Why it matters: Schedule FA non-disclosure is penalised under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act — up to ₹10 lakh per year per failure, even where tax was already paid on the income. If you held a foreign asset for even one day of the calendar year, it belongs in the schedule.
Open the Schedule FA rate guide & TTBR archive →
How do I find the right SBI TTBR for my ITR?
Four steps, in order:
- Identify the specified date — not the date you were paid. Salary/RSU: last day of the previous month. Capital gains: last day of the month before transfer. Foreign bank interest: 31 March. Schedule FA peak: the peak date; closing: 31 December.
- Find that date in an SBI TTBR archive. If SBI published no rate card that day (Sunday or holiday), step back to the last date on which it did — and record which date you used and why.
- Read the TT BUY column only. Bill rates, travel-card rates and currency-note rates have no role in tax conversion.
- Convert. For USD, EUR and GBP: rupees = amount × TT Buy. For JPY: rupees = amount × (TT Buy ÷ 100) — SBI quotes yen per 100 units.
Doing this by hand for a dozen RSU vests and a year of dividends is exactly the kind of clerical work that creates errors. The TaxFetch SBI TTBR Archive & ITR Lookup is India’s most complete free archive of SBI TT buying rates — daily cards since January 2020, 30+ currencies, with the correct Rule 115 / Rule 206 date logic applied for you. Pick your income type and date, and it finds the specified date, steps back over holidays automatically, and shows the exact TT buy figure. You can also download the full USD, EUR, GBP and JPY history as CSV/Excel, and open the original SBI FOREX CARD RATES PDF for any day as proof to keep with your ITR working papers.
Which mistakes should I watch out for?
- Converting on the payment date. The specified date is almost never the day the money hit your account.
- Treating foreign bank interest as “interest on securities”. Ordinary foreign savings interest is other-sources income and takes the 31 March rate — not a month-end rate.
- Using TT sell, bill rates or Google rates. Only the TT buying rate counts.
- Forgetting the JPY ÷ 100 convention — it inflates yen income a hundred-fold.
- Missing the TDS override where foreign tax/TDS was deducted at source.
- Mixing up Schedule FA’s calendar year with the financial year — FA runs January to December, and closing values take the 31 December rate.
If your facts are messy — joint foreign accounts, a mid-year move abroad, an employer that switched RSU custodians — a short consultation with a verified CA settles it faster than guesswork. You can talk to a TaxFetch e-CA online and get your Schedule FA reviewed before you file.
