Bangalore · Hyderabad · Tech employees and consultants
IT professionals: RSU vesting, moonlighting income, 44ADA, FEMA — the four compliance gaps your employer’s payroll doesn’t cover.
Your employer handles Form 16 and payroll TDS. It does not handle RSU sale-side capital gains, moonlighting income visible in AIS, 44ADA optimisation for consulting, or FEMA obligations on overseas stock. These four gaps generate the most common notices for tech employees.
The compliance gaps
What payroll TDS doesn’t cover.
Form 16 is a receipt for salary TDS — not a complete picture of your tax position. Four common gaps generate most of the notices that reach tech employees.
RSU vesting — two separate tax events
RSU vesting creates a perquisite under section 17(2) — taxed as salary in the vest year, TDS deducted by employer. The subsequent sale creates a separate STCG or LTCG event depending on the holding period from vest date. Most employees report only one; ITR mismatch with AIS triggers defective-return notices.
s.17(2) perquisite at vest · STCG/LTCG at sale · holding period from vest date
Moonlighting income — AIS mismatch risk
A second employer has no Form 16. The income appears in AIS from TDS deducted by the second company (or as gross receipts if freelanced). Most payroll-deduction ITR-1 filers miss this income entirely. The mismatch triggers a defective-return notice or scrutiny under s.143(2).
AIS cross-check · ITR-3 not ITR-1 · advance tax on freelance income
44ADA for consultants and freelancers
A tech consultant with gross receipts up to ₹75 lakh (FY 2023-24 onwards) can declare 50% as net income under section 44ADA — no books required, no tax audit. The threshold was ₹50L until FA 2023. Many consultants file incorrectly, either missing the option or misapplying the turnover ceiling.
₹75L gross receipts ceiling · 50% deemed profit · no books or audit
FEMA + LRS TCS + Schedule FA
RSUs in a foreign-listed employer constitute a foreign asset under FEMA section 6(4). Schedule FA disclosure is mandatory in the ITR. LRS remittances above ₹7L attract 20% TCS from October 2023 — refundable but only if claimed in the ITR. Both are commonly missed in standard ITR filing.
Schedule FA foreign asset · 20% LRS TCS · FEMA s.6(4) disclosure
What actually happens
Where notices come from.
RSU sold in the same year as vest — two entries in AIS
The perquisite appears in AIS as 'Salary' from the employer. The sale proceeds appear as 'Securities transaction'. An ITR that reports only the salary perquisite but not the capital gains on sale will mismatch the AIS and trigger a defective-return or scrutiny notice.
Income Tax — AIS guidanceMoonlighting TDS appears in Form 26AS, not Form 16
If the second employer deducted TDS and issued a TDS certificate, it is in Form 26AS. An ITR-1 that reports only the primary employer's Form 16 income will underreport income visible to the department and trigger an AIS mismatch notice in the assessment.
Income-tax Act, section 139(1)Advance tax missed on consulting income
A salaried employee who starts freelancing mid-year may have consulting income that takes total tax liability above ₹10,000. If advance tax is not paid quarterly, sections 234B and 234C interest accrue — sometimes several thousand rupees on a modest consulting income.
Income-tax Act, section 234BSchedule FA not filed — FEMA and Black Money Act exposure
Unsold RSUs in a US brokerage account are a foreign asset. The failure to declare them in Schedule FA of the ITR — even if no income was derived — can be treated as an undisclosed foreign asset under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, 2015, which carries penalties up to three times the asset value.
FEMA s.6(4), RBI notificationOur engagement
Five tracks for a complete tech-employee ITR.
RSU/ESOP tax planning
Vest-year perquisite reconciliation, TDS gap analysis, sale-year STCG/LTCG computation, wash-sale planning between vest and sale.
Annual + event-driven
ITR-3 with all income sources
Salary + moonlighting + freelance + F&O + capital gains — filed in ITR-3 with AIS reconciliation to avoid mismatch notices.
Annual (Jul / Oct)
Advance tax calendar
Quarterly advance tax on consulting income, trading income, and capital gains — June, September, December, March instalments — to avoid s.234B/C interest.
Quarterly
FEMA + Schedule FA
Annual foreign asset declaration, FEMA compliance for overseas brokerage accounts, LRS TCS credit claim in ITR.
Annual
44ADA or regular books
Threshold review each FY — optimise between 44ADA deemed profit and actual-expense books depending on cost structure.
Annual
Common questions
Statute-cited answers.
My employer deducts TDS on RSU vesting. Do I still need to file anything?
Yes — two separate obligations. The employer deducts TDS on the vest-date perquisite under section 17(2), which appears in Form 16. But the subsequent sale of the RSUs creates a capital gains event (STCG or LTCG depending on holding period from vest date, not grant date) that is not covered by the employer's TDS. If you sell RSUs, you must report the capital gains separately in ITR-3 and pay any differential tax. The AIS will show both the perquisite and the sale proceeds — a mismatch in the ITR triggers a defective-return notice.
I do freelance projects on weekends. Does my employer handle that in the ITR?
No. Your employer's Form 16 covers only the salary they pay you. Weekend freelance income — whether from consulting, coding contracts, or content — is either gross receipts (if billed directly) or TDS-deducted income from the client. It appears in your AIS but not in Form 16. You must file ITR-3 (not ITR-1), declare the freelance income, pay advance tax if the liability exceeds ₹10,000, and either opt for 44ADA (if gross receipts are below ₹75L) or maintain books of account.
What is the 44ADA limit now — ₹50L or ₹75L?
₹75 lakh from FY 2023-24 onwards (Assessment Year 2024-25 onwards). The Finance Act 2023 raised the threshold from ₹50L to ₹75L for professional gross receipts, provided cash receipts do not exceed 5% of total gross receipts in the financial year. If the cash threshold is breached, the ₹50L ceiling applies. Under 44ADA, 50% of gross receipts is deemed to be net income — no books required, no tax audit required.
I hold RSUs in my US employer's stock in a US brokerage account. Is that a FEMA issue?
Yes. A foreign-listed security held in an overseas brokerage account is a foreign asset under FEMA and must be disclosed in Schedule FA of the ITR, regardless of whether it has been sold. The omission of Schedule FA in the ITR even for unsold holdings can constitute a FEMA violation and attract penalties under the Black Money Act. Additionally, any LRS remittances made to fund the brokerage account (if applicable) must be reported. The Schedule FA disclosures in ITR-2 or ITR-3 are mandatory, not optional.
What is the 20% TCS on LRS and how do I get it back?
From 1 October 2023, remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) above ₹7 lakh in a financial year attract Tax Collected at Source (TCS) at 20% on the amount remitted. This is not an additional tax — it is an advance tax credit. The TCS collected by the AD bank appears in your Form 26AS and AIS. You claim it as a TCS credit when filing your ITR, which reduces your net tax payable or generates a refund. The mechanism requires that the ITR be filed on time and the TCS credit explicitly claimed in Schedule TCS.
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We check RSU treatment, AIS vs Form 16 reconciliation, moonlighting exposure and Schedule FA status before filing. No obligation until you know what needs fixing.
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