Schedule FA Table A2 vs A3 — What's the Difference
7 min read · Updated July 2026 · Applies to AY 2025-26 and AY 2026-27
The fundamental difference
| Aspect | Table A2 | Table A3 |
|---|---|---|
| What it reports | The foreign custodial account | The foreign equity holdings in it |
| Analogy | The bank account | The assets held inside |
| For Fidelity | Your Fidelity stock plan account | Your employer's shares (RSU / ESPP lots) |
| How many rows | One per account | One per lot held during the year |
| Key values | Peak balance, Dec 31 closing balance, gross income, gross proceeds | Initial value, peak value, Dec 31 closing value (per lot) |
Filling only A3 tells the department what you own but not where you hold it; filling only A2 omits the equity holdings. Both are required.
Table A2 — foreign custodial account
Table A2 reports the brokerage/custodial account that holds your foreign assets — for most tech employees this is the Fidelity Stock Plan Services account. It is reported at the account level, for the calendar year ending December 31 (Fidelity's accounting period), not March 31.
- Peak balance — the highest value of the account during the calendar year, converted to INR.
- Closing balance — the account value on December 31, converted to INR.
- Gross income — total dividends credited to the account during the year.
- Gross proceeds — total proceeds from sales/redemptions during the year.
All INR conversions use the SBI TTBR on the exact date, per CBDT's filing instructions (not Rule 115 — see why) — closing/peak on the relevant date; income and proceeds on the event date, with the Dec 31 rate accepted in practice.
Table A3 — foreign equity interest
Table A3 reports the individual equity holdings inside the account — each vested RSU lot and each ESPP purchase. You create one row per lot held at any time during the calendar year:
- Initial value — cost basis × SBI TTBR on the acquisition (vest/purchase) date, per CBDT's Schedule FA filing instructions. For ESPP where the employer taxed the discount, use FMV on purchase date (see the ESPP guide).
- Peak value — the lot's share of the peak portfolio value during the year.
- Closing value — shares × Dec 31 price × SBI TTBR on Dec 31. For lots sold during the year, the closing value is 0 and the sale proceeds are reported (see the Closed Lots guide).
Column by column — what goes in each field
Exactly as the ITR portal presents them, with an example value for a Fidelity RSU holder.
Table A2 columns
| Portal field | What goes here | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Country Name and Code | Single dropdown selection, not a typed code | 2-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA |
| Name of financial institution | Full legal name of the broker | Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC |
| Address & ZIP | Institution's registered address | 82 Devonshire Street, Boston MA 02109 |
| Account number | Your stock-plan account number | X12-345678 |
| Status | Your relationship to the account — Owner, Beneficial Owner, or Beneficiary (there's no "Active/Inactive" option) | Beneficial Owner |
| Account opening date | When the account was created | 15-Jan-2023 |
| Peak balance during the period | Highest account value Jan–Dec, in INR | ₹10,20,000 |
| Closing balance | Account value on Dec 31, in INR | ₹8,55,000 |
| Nature of Amount | One dropdown value per row — Interest, Dividend, Proceeds from Sale, Other, or No Amount Paid/Credited | Dividend |
| Amount | The single amount for that row's Nature of Amount, in INR | ₹10,200 |
Table A3 columns (one row per lot)
| Portal field | What goes here | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Country Name and Code | Single dropdown selection, not a typed code | 2-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA |
| Name of entity | Full legal name of the company whose shares you hold | ServiceNow, Inc. |
| Address & ZIP | Company's registered address (investor-relations page) | 2225 Lawson Lane Santa Clara CA 95054 |
| Nature of entity | What kind of entity it is | Listed Company |
| Date of acquiring the interest | Vest date (RSU) or purchase date (ESPP) — not grant date | 15-Mar-2025 |
| Initial value of the investment | Cost basis × SBI TTBR on the acquisition date (look up the rate) | ₹2,55,000 |
| Peak value during the period | Lot's highest INR value Jan–Dec | ₹3,06,000 |
| Closing value | Shares × Dec 31 price × Dec 31 TTBR; 0 if sold | ₹2,80,500 |
| Total gross amount paid/credited | Dividend paid on this holding during the year, in INR — entered on one row for the holding (the same dividend is also totalled at account level in Table A2) | ₹10,200 |
| Total gross proceeds from sale | Sale proceeds if this lot was sold during the year | ₹0 |
All INR values are integers — the portal rejects decimals. Round at the end, not per component.
Where dividends and proceeds go
The account's gross dividend income and sale proceeds are reported at the account level in Table A2 — as two separate rows if both happened during the year, since each A2 row carries only one Nature of Amount (Dividend, Interest, Proceeds from Sale, Other, or No Amount) and one Amount field, never two natures combined. The same figures also appear in Table A3 against the specific holding — Table A3 has no such split, so the dividend and any sale proceeds sit as two always-present columns on the same row (total gross amount paid/credited and total gross proceeds from sale). Schedule FA reports the same income under both lenses (the account and the holding), so seeing the dividend in both tables is correct — not a duplication error. Because the dividend belongs to the holding rather than any single lot, enter it once on one representative row for that holding, not split across every lot.
Worked example — filling both tables together
Rohan holds a Fidelity stock plan account with 2 vested RSU lots during the calendar year. He sells Lot 1 in June; Lot 2 he still holds on December 31. The account also received $120 in dividends.
| Lot | Vest date | Shares | FMV at vest | Status Dec 31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lot 1 | 10-Feb-2025 | 10 | $180/share | Sold 15-Jun-2025 for $2,050 total |
| Lot 2 | 05-Aug-2025 | 8 | $210/share | Held — Dec 31 price $230/share |
Using illustrative SBI TTBR of ₹84/USD throughout for simplicity (in practice, use the actual rate for each specific date):
Peak balance ₹3,47,760, closing balance ₹1,54,560 — repeated identically on both rows below. Only Nature of Amount and Amount differ:
- Row 1 — Nature of Amount: Dividend. Amount: $120 → ₹10,080
- Row 2 — Nature of Amount: Proceeds from Sale or Redemption of Financial Assets. Amount: $2,050 → ₹1,72,200
- Lot 1: initial value 10×$180=$1,800 → ₹1,51,200. Closing value: 0 (sold). Proceeds: ₹1,72,200. Dividend: ₹0
- Lot 2: initial value 8×$210=$1,680 → ₹1,41,120. Closing value: 8×$230=$1,840 → ₹1,54,560. Dividend on holding: ₹10,080*
*The holding's $120 (₹10,080) dividend is entered once, on a single representative row — not split across lots. Unlike A2, A3 has no Nature-of-Amount dropdown — dividend and proceeds are always two separate columns on the same row.
Notice the same $120 dividend appears in both tables — as its own A2 row (₹10,080) and against the holding in Table A3 (on one representative row). The $2,050 sale proceeds likewise appear as A2's other row and in the sold Lot 1's Table A3 proceeds column. Peak balance (₹3,47,760) is the same number on both A2 rows, since that's an account-level figure, not tied to either nature.
Quick checklist
- Table A2 filled for the Fidelity custodial account (one row).
- Table A3 filled for every lot held during the calendar year — including sold lots (closing value 0 + proceeds).
- All closing values use Dec 31, not March 31.
- All INR conversions use SBI TTBR on the relevant date (CBDT's Schedule FA filing instructions).
- Table F filed for the Fidelity Participant Trust, if applicable.
Upload your Fidelity CSVs. ITRFA.in builds the A2 account summary and one A3 row per lot, with correct SBI TTBR rates and Dec 31 closing values.
Auto-fill Table A2 and A3 →