When you report foreign income or foreign assets in your ITR, like RSU vesting, capital gains on foreign stocks, dividends, or Schedule FA holdings, you cannot use whatever exchange rate you find on Google or your broker's statement.
The Income Tax Rules specify a particular rate, called the SBI TT Buying Rate (TTBR), and using any other rate exposes you to mismatches that the department can flag at scrutiny.
Table of contents
- What is the SBI TTBR?
- Why this rate and not Google's rate?
- When you need it
- Which date's rate do you use?
- Where to find it
- Common mistakes
- How Paasa helps
What is the SBI TTBR?
TTBR stands for Telegraphic Transfer Buying Rate. It is the rate at which State Bank of India buys foreign currency from customers via telegraphic transfer. SBI publishes this rate for major currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, AUD, JPY, and several others) every working day.
The Income Tax Rules reference this rate in two separate places, and they answer two different questions. Rule 115 (recodified as Rule 206 under the Income-tax Rules, 2026) governs how foreign income gets converted to INR for your actual tax computation. This covers salary and RSU perquisites, capital gains, dividends, and interest. Rule 26 is a separate, narrower provision. It governs only the rate an employer uses to calculate TDS withholding, using the rate on the date tax is actually deducted rather than the last day of the preceding month. The number your employer withheld under Rule 26 will not necessarily match the number you report under Rule 206.
Why this rate and not Google's rate?
The rate you see on Google or a forex website is a live market rate, which fluctuates throughout the day and varies across providers.
The tax department needs one objective, archived, traceable benchmark — a number that can be verified consistently regardless of who is doing the verification.
When you need it
For RSU holders and any Indian resident with foreign income or assets, TTBR shows up in most parts of the ITR:
- RSU vesting — to compute the perquisite value in INR
- Capital gains on sale of foreign equity — to convert both your cost of acquisition and your sale proceeds
- Foreign dividends — to convert the gross dividend to INR for inclusion in your income
- Foreign interest income — the applicable date depends on whether it's interest on securities like bonds, or ordinary bank/brokerage account interest (see table below)
- Schedule FA disclosures — initial value (cost), peak value, and closing value of foreign holdings
- Foreign Tax Credit via Form 67 — to convert tax paid abroad to INR
In each case, the conversion rate is not optional. It is the SBI TTBR for a specific date defined by the rule.
Which date's rate do you use?
The relevant date varies by income type:
| Income type | TTBR date to use |
|---|---|
| RSU perquisite at vesting | Last day of the month preceding the month of vesting |
| Capital gains on sale of foreign equity | Last day of the month preceding the month of sale (applied to both cost and sale proceeds, but see the note below for RSU and ESOP shares) |
| Foreign dividends | Last day of the month preceding the month in which the dividend is declared, distributed, or paid |
| Foreign interest on securities (e.g. bonds) | Last day of the month preceding the month in which the interest is due |
| Other foreign interest (e.g. bank or brokerage account interest) | Last day of the tax year (31 March) |
| Schedule FA — initial value | TTBR on the exact date of acquisition (the vest date itself for RSUs, not the month-preceding rate used for the perquisite computation) |
| Schedule FA — peak value | TTBR on the date of peak value |
| Schedule FA — closing value | TTBR on December 31 |
| Foreign Tax Credit (Form 67) | Last day of the month preceding the month in which the foreign tax was paid or deducted |
Note: For shares bought with cash, a single TTBR (last day of the month preceding the month of sale) is applied to compute the gain in INR, under Rule 206. The gain is computed first in foreign currency, then converted using the single rate.
RSU and ESOP shares work differently. Under Section 49(2AA) of the Income Tax Act, the cost of acquisition for shares already taxed as a perquisite under Section 17(2)(vi) is fixed as the fair market value that was taken into account for that perquisite, the same INR figure already reported in your Form 16, converted at the vest-day rate under Rule 206. Only the sale proceeds get converted separately, at the sale-month rate. The cost side is not re-derived in foreign currency and reconverted at the sale-month rate.
Where to find it
SBI's official website publishes the current and recent TTBR rates. Useful for current-year filings but the historical range is limited.
Income Tax Department's e-filing portal maintains archived TTBR data for past years, accessible while you are working on your ITR.
Third-party archives maintain consolidated month-end TTBR data going back several years, useful as a cross-reference when filing for older years or filing an updated return.
Paasa gives you values calculated using the applicable TTBR rates in year-end tax reports.
Common mistakes
Using the spot rate on the transaction date.
For most income types it is the last day of the preceding month. Using the wrong date is the most frequent error.
Using TT Selling Rate instead of TT Buying Rate.
SBI publishes both. The Act specifies the buying rate. The selling rate is typically a few paise higher and using it skews your calculation.
Using the RBI reference rate.
RBI publishes its own daily reference rate, which is widely cited in financial news. It is not the rate the Income Tax Act requires for these purposes.
Falling back when the date is a weekend or holiday.
If the last day of the preceding month is a Sunday or a bank holiday, SBI does not publish a rate for that day. Use the rate from the last working day prior. For example, if March 31 is a Sunday, use the rate from Friday, March 29.
How Paasa helps
Paasa is the platform used by global Indian investors, HNIs, and family offices to diversify their wealth across global markets like US, UK, China, Singapore, Switzerland, and beyond.
Paasa applies the correct SBI TTBR automatically to every transaction in your account. End-of-year tax documents are delivered in INR using the rates the Income Tax Act requires, so you do not need to look up month-end rates manually or reconcile USD figures from a broker statement.
If you are a global investor with questions around taxation, FEMA, LRS, or compliance, feel free to reach out to our team.
