Tax Body To Expand 'NUDGE' Campaign In December With 25,000 High-Risk Cases Under Radar
The CBDT has already assessed roughly 1,080 cases and successfully raised a demand of approximately Rs 40,000 crore as of June 2025, under the first phase of NUDGE campaign.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will expand its "NUDGE" campaign in December, with approximately 25,000 high-risk cases likely to come under the taxation body's radar.
Under this campaign, big corporates whose employees have foreign assets and have not disclosed are also being brought on board to sensitise taxpayers. The CBDT will give violators a final opportunity to voluntarily disclose any undisclosed foreign assets, before they face severe penalties under the Black Money Act.
The department has already assessed roughly 1,080 cases and successfully raised a demand of approximately Rs 40,000 crore as of June 2025, under the first phase of NUDGE campaign.
This step by the Income Tax Department leverages highly detailed intelligence received through global data exchange mechanisms, according to sources within the CBDT.
Industry bodies, ICAI and associations have also been requested to create awareness. The launch of the NUDGE campaign focuses on maximising compliance and recovering lost revenue from overseas holdings.
The CBDT's second NUDGE campaign, under which SMSs and emails will be issued from Nov. 28 to such taxpayers, advising them to review and revise their returns on or before Dec. 31 to avoid penal consequences.
The campaign aims to facilitate correct reporting in Schedule Foreign Assets and Foreign Source Income in ITRs. Accurate and complete disclosure of foreign assets and income is a statutory requirement under the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the Black Money which is Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
The initiative aligns with the vision of Viksit Bharat, fostering accountability, transparency and a culture of voluntary compliance.
The “Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable”, or NUDGE initiative was first launched on Nov. 17, 2024, targeted select taxpayers who had been reported by foreign jurisdictions under the AEOI framework as holding foreign assets that were not disclosed in their Income Tax Returns for accounting year 2024-25.
The initiative yielded positive outcomes, with 24,678 taxpayers revisiting their returns and disclosing foreign assets amounting to Rs 29,208 crore, along with foreign-source income of Rs 1,089.88 crore.
The CBDT receives information relating to foreign financial assets of India residents from partner jurisdictions pursuant to Common Reporting Standards and from the United States under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.
