Which ITR Schedules Do You Need? A Decision Guide for RSU/ESPP Holders
9 min read · Updated July 2026 · Applies to AY 2025-26 and AY 2026-27
At a Glance — What Each Event Triggers
(Capital Gain)
Column 4 almost always ends "No" — US law doesn't withhold tax on a non-resident alien's stock sale gains, so Form 67 usually isn't needed for the sale itself, only for withheld dividend tax in column 3. Column 2 (Schedule FA) applies independently of what columns 3 and 4 resolve to.
- At a glance — visual decision flow
- The seven pieces, one page
- Schedule FA — foreign asset disclosure
- Schedule CG — did you sell shares?
- Schedule CFL — is there a loss left over?
- Schedule OS — did you get dividends?
- Schedule FSI & TR — was foreign tax withheld?
- Form 67 — claiming the DTAA credit
- Quick decision checklist
- Worked example — one filer, all seven
- Common mistakes
- Automate with ITRFA.in
1. The Seven Pieces, One Page
Holding US employer stock — RSUs, ESPP, or a plain brokerage account — can touch up to seven different pieces of an Indian ITR-2, depending on what actually happened this year. Each one has its own dedicated guide on this site already; this page is the map that ties them together and tells you which ones you can skip.
| Piece | What it's for | Only needed if… |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule FA | Disclosing the foreign asset itself — Table A2 (accounts), A3 (equity/RSU/ESPP), F (trust) | You're ROR and held any foreign stock/account at any point in the calendar year — almost always |
| Schedule CG | Capital gain/loss computation — STCG vs LTCG, Section 48/112 | You sold any shares during the Indian FY (Apr–Mar) |
| Schedule CFL | Carrying a net capital loss forward — Section 74's 8-year window | Schedule CG left a net loss after same-year set-off (Section 70) |
| Schedule OS | Dividend income, taxed at your slab rate | You received any dividend on US shares during the Indian FY |
| Schedule FSI | Foreign-source income + foreign tax paid, country-wise | You had any foreign-source income — a dividend or a gain on US shares — even if no US tax was withheld on it |
| Schedule TR | Summary of tax relief claimed under DTAA, by country | Foreign tax was actually withheld and you're claiming relief for it — filed together with FSI |
| Form 67 | The actual DTAA credit claim — a separate portal statement | You want credit for foreign tax withheld; must be filed before the ITR, not after |
2. Schedule FA — Foreign Asset Disclosure
This is the one almost everyone needs. If you're a Resident and Ordinarily Resident (ROR) and held US employer stock — vested RSUs, ESPP shares, or a brokerage account — at any point during the calendar year (not the Indian financial year), you disclose it here: which account (Table A2), which specific holdings (Table A3), and any trust interest (Table F). This is pure disclosure — it reports that the asset exists and its value, not what you earned from it.
Not sure if your residential status requires this at all? See Who Must File Schedule FA — ROR vs RNOR vs NRI. For the A2/A3 split specifically, see Table A2 vs A3.
3. Schedule CG — Did You Sell Any Shares?
Skip this entirely if you didn't sell anything during the Indian FY (Apr–Mar — not the calendar year Schedule FA uses). If you did, Schedule CG computes short-term vs long-term gain (the unlisted-security 24-month threshold, not the usual 12), taxed under Section 48 or 112, using its own Rule 115(1)(f) exchange rate convention — different from the rate Schedule FA uses for the same lot.
Full walkthrough: Schedule CG for RSU & ESPP Sales.
4. Schedule CFL — Is There a Loss Left Over?
Only relevant if Schedule CG's own same-year set-off (Section 70) leaves a net capital loss unabsorbed. If your sales this year were all gains, or a loss was fully absorbed against another gain the same year, there's nothing to carry forward and you can skip CFL. If there is a leftover loss, it must be reported here — in the loss year's own return, filed on time — or it's forfeited (Section 80).
Full rules: Schedule CFL — Carrying Forward RSU/ESPP Capital Losses.
5. Schedule OS — Did You Get Dividends?
Skip this if your holdings paid no dividend this year. If they did, the dividend is taxed at your slab rate under Schedule OS (not a flat rate) — using yet another exchange-rate convention, Rule 115(1)(e)'s preceding-month rate, and it factors into your Section 234C advance-tax quarterly breakup.
Full walkthrough: Schedule OS for Foreign Dividend Income.
6. Schedule FSI & TR — Foreign Income, and Foreign Tax On It
These two look like a pair but have different triggers. Schedule FSI reports all your foreign-source income country by country — dividends on US shares and capital gains on them — whether or not any US tax was withheld. A gain on US shares carries zero US tax (US law doesn't tax a non-resident alien's stock gains), yet it's still foreign-source income that belongs in FSI's capital-gains row. Schedule TR summarizes the DTAA relief claimed for foreign tax actually paid — in practice, the NRA withholding on your dividends. If you had foreign income but nothing withheld, FSI still applies; TR simply shows zero relief.
7. Form 67 — Claiming the DTAA Credit
If Schedule FSI/TR applies to you (foreign tax was withheld) and you want credit for it, Form 67 is the actual claim. Skip it only if you're not claiming DTAA relief at all — which is rare, since it usually means leaving money on the table.
Full walkthrough: Foreign Tax Credit & Form 67 for RSU/ESPP.
8. Quick Decision Checklist
- ☐ Held any US stock this calendar year, as ROR? → Schedule FA (almost certainly yes)
- ☐ Sold any shares this Indian FY? → Schedule CG
- ☐ CG left a net loss after set-off? → Schedule CFL
- ☐ Received any dividend this Indian FY? → Schedule OS
- ☐ Any foreign-source income — dividend or gain on US shares? → Schedule FSI (even with zero withholding)
- ☐ Any foreign tax actually withheld? → Schedule TR, alongside FSI
- ☐ Want credit for that withheld tax? → Form 67 (file before or with the ITR)
9. Worked Example — One Filer, All Seven
Schedule FA — the account (A2) and every holding incl. the ESPP lot (A3), whether sold or still held.
Schedule CG — the two sales, net loss of ₹10,000 after Section 70 set-off.
Schedule CFL — the ₹10,000 net loss carried forward.
Schedule OS — the ₹4,000 dividend, taxed at slab rate.
Schedule FSI + TR — the ₹4,000 dividend reported as foreign-source income (the sales too, though a loss year has no taxable gain to show), with the ₹600 withheld and relief claimed in TR.
Form 67 — filed before or with the ITR, to actually get that ₹600 credited.
10. Common Mistakes
- Filing only Schedule FA and stopping there — a sale or dividend that happened needs its own schedule; FA doesn't report income, only the asset's existence and value.
- Filing Schedule CG/OS/FSI when nothing happened — an empty schedule with no triggering event just adds noise; skip what genuinely doesn't apply.
- Leaving Form 67 for later and forgetting it — Rule 128(9) allows filing up to the end of the assessment year, but a credit claimed in the return with no Form 67 on file is a common reason legitimate DTAA relief gets disallowed. File it before or with the ITR.
- Skipping Schedule FSI because no US tax was withheld — FSI reports foreign-source income itself, not just foreign tax; a zero-withholding gain on US shares still belongs there.
- Assuming ITR-3 is needed because of these schedules — it isn't; ITR-2 handles all seven for anyone without separate business/professional income.
- Confusing Schedule FA's calendar year with everything else's financial year — FA covers Jan–Dec; CG, OS, FSI, TR, and CFL all cover Apr–Mar. The same sale can land in different "years" across schedules.
- Exporting broker CSVs for only Jan–Dec — enough for Schedule FA, but CG/OS/FSI/Form 67 need Apr–Mar, three months past that. A January–March 2026 dividend or sale won't be in a Jan–Dec export; pull 15 months (Jan 2025 – Mar 2026) if any of the income schedules apply to you. If your broker's date picker caps at 12 months, export twice — the app accepts multiple Transaction History files, just select both when uploading.
ITRFA.in reads your broker's CSV exports once and generates whichever of these schedules your own data actually triggers — Schedule FA always, CG/CFL/OS/FSI/TR only when a sale, loss, or dividend/withholding shows up in your upload. Nothing to remember, nothing filed that doesn't apply.
Open the Schedule FA tool →