Section 59 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Section 59 opened the one-time compliance window of Chapter VI. It allowed any person to declare an undisclosed asset located outside India that had been acquired from income chargeable to tax for an earlier assessment year. On the face of the sources, the window is closed; this article is a record of what the section provided, and it does not suggest that a declaration can be made now. A reader trying to place an old foreign asset against this history can take advice from our legal consultation team.
As per the Act as enacted and published in the Gazette of India on 27 May 2015, section 59 allowed any person to make a declaration of an undisclosed asset located outside India acquired from income chargeable to tax for an assessment year before the one beginning on 1 April 2016, in three situations: no return had been furnished, the asset was not disclosed in a return already furnished, or it had escaped assessment. The declaration could be made from the date of commencement of the Act until a date to be notified. The window is closed on the face of the sources.
The window and the dates
The marginal note is "Declaration of undisclosed foreign asset". Section 59 says a declaration could be made "on or after the date of commencement of this Act but on or before a date to be notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette".
The sources do not reconcile the dates around this window, and it is better to say so plainly than to guess:
- Section 1(3) prints that, save as otherwise provided in the Act, it comes into force on the 1st day of April, 2016.
- The Rules as notified on 2 July 2015 take the 1st day of July, 2015 as the date for determining the value of an asset declared under section 59 (rule 3, Explanation 2), and a note in Form 6 speaks of tax not paid before 31st December 2015.
- The instrument that links those dates, and any notification of the date under section 59 or section 63, is not in the sources consulted. This article gives no notified date.
So the sources show a declaration window in 2015 on the face of the Rules, a commencement provision of 1 April 2016, and no document that explains how they fit together. Anyone who needs the actual dates must check the official notifications; this article does not supply them.
Who could declare
"Any person" could make a declaration, "subject to the provisions of this Chapter". That phrase matters: sections 62, 63, 68, 71 and 72 set conditions, exclusions and consequences, which are covered in our articles on sections 60 to 63, sections 64 to 68 and sections 71 and 72. Section 62(3) also barred a second declaration by the same person, a point taken up in the article on sections 60 to 63.
Which assets could be declared
The section spoke of "any undisclosed asset located outside India and acquired from income chargeable to tax under the Income-tax Act for any assessment year prior to the assessment year beginning on 1st day of April, 2016". Three elements:
- The asset was undisclosed and located outside India.
- It was acquired from income chargeable to tax under the Income-tax Act, for an assessment year before the one beginning on 1 April 2016.
- It fell in one of three situations (a), (b) or (c).
The three situations were:
- (a) for which he had failed to furnish a return under section 139 of the Income-tax Act;
- (b) which he had failed to disclose in a return of income furnished by him under the Income-tax Act before the date of commencement of the Act;
- (c) which had escaped assessment by reason of the omission or failure on his part to make a return under the Income-tax Act or to disclose fully and truly all material facts necessary for the assessment or otherwise.
References to the Income-tax Act are to the Income-tax Act, 1961 as printed in 2015; the corresponding provision of the current income-tax law should be checked.
The Income-tax Act is cited in section 59 as printed in 2015.
The section at a glance
| Element | What section 59 provided (as enacted) |
|---|---|
| Who | Any person, subject to the Chapter |
| What | A declaration of an undisclosed asset located outside India |
| Source of the asset | Income chargeable to tax under the Income-tax Act for any assessment year before the one beginning on 1 April 2016 |
| Situations | (a) no return furnished; (b) not disclosed in a return furnished before commencement; (c) escaped assessment |
| Start | On or after the date of commencement of the Act |
| End | On or before a date to be notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette |
| Status on the face of the sources | Closed |
What the section did not say
Section 59 does not itself say how a declaration was to be made, at what value, or with what consequence. Those matters are in the other sections of the Chapter: the manner in section 62, the tax in section 60, the penalty in section 61 and payment in section 63. The form of the declaration is in the Rules as notified on 2 July 2015: see our article on Rules 9 to 12 and Forms 6 and 7. The section also does not describe what happened to an asset that was not declared; section 72(c) deals with that, and it is explained in our article on sections 71 and 72.
The Act as enacted does not say, in section 59, whether the asset had to remain in the declarant's hands on the date of the declaration, and this article does not read that in.
A worked example (in the past tense)
Take Dilip Chawla, a resident who in an earlier year had acquired a flat abroad out of income that was chargeable to tax in India for an assessment year before the one beginning on 1 April 2016. He had never furnished a return that showed it. While the window was open, he could have made a declaration under section 59 on the footing of clause (a) or (c), subject to the Chapter: he was not among the persons excluded by section 71, and he went on to pay what sections 60 and 61 required by the date notified under section 63. If he had instead let the window pass, section 72(c), as printed, would have treated an asset acquired or made before commencement and not declared as acquired or made in the year in which a notice under section 10 is issued by the Assessing Officer. The assessment provisions are explained in our article on section 10.
How this connects to the rest of the Act
Chapter VI sits between the offences in Chapter V and the general provisions in Chapter VII. The charge of tax under section 3 on undisclosed foreign income and asset operates on its own terms; see our article on section 3. The section 59 declaration was an alternative route, with its own tax and penalty, for earlier assessment years.
References and what to check
The section is read as enacted and as a record of what the Chapter provided. Later Finance Act amendments and any notification fixing the dates should be checked from the official sources, since none is in the sources consulted. Our guide on the Black Money Act and undisclosed foreign income is a general reader on the Act.
Need help understanding the history of an old foreign asset?
If you hold an overseas asset acquired in earlier years and are unsure of its tax and disclosure position, our legal consultation team can review the documents and explain what the Act's provisions say about it.
Key takeaways
- Section 59 opened a one-time compliance window for declaring undisclosed foreign assets; on the face of the sources it is closed.
- It covered assets acquired from income chargeable to tax for assessment years before the one beginning on 1 April 2016.
- Three situations qualified: no return, non-disclosure in a return, and escape from assessment.
- The sources print 1 April 2016 in section 1(3), 1 July 2015 in the Rules and 31 December 2015 in a Form 6 note; the linking instrument is not in them.
- No notified date under section 59 or 63 is given here.
- Check later Finance Act amendments before acting.
Read next
- Sections 60 to 63: tax, penalty, manner and time for the one-time declaration
- Sections 64 to 68: effect of declaration and void declarations
- Sections 71 and 72: persons excluded from declaration and removal of doubts
- Black Money Act: undisclosed foreign income
Disclaimer: Based on the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 as enacted and published in the Gazette of India on 27 May 2015, and on the Rules of 2015 as notified on 2 July 2015, as consulted on 2 October 2026. Later Finance Act amendments, amendment rules and the current income-tax law should be checked. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.