Which exchange rate for Schedule FA?
There are two exchange-rate rules in your return, and US shareholders need both. Here is which one applies where, with real SBI rates from 2025.
The short answer
| Figure | Rate | Date of the rate |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule FA: initial value | SBI TT buying rate | The date you acquired the shares |
| Schedule FA: peak value | SBI TT buying rate | The day of the peak |
| Schedule FA: closing balance | SBI TT buying rate | 31 December |
| Schedule FA: amounts credited | SBI TT buying rate | The date of each credit |
| Capital gains | SBI TT buying rate (Rule 115) | Last day of the month before the sale |
| Dividends and interest | SBI TT buying rate (Rule 115) | Last day of the month before the payment |
Why the TT buying rate
SBI publishes several rates every day: TT buying, TT selling, bill buying, card and currency-note rates. The ITR instructions for Schedule FA name the telegraphic transfer buying rate, and Rule 115 uses the same rate for income. It is the rate at which SBI buys dollars that arrive by wire transfer, which is slightly lower than the selling rate.
Some platforms use the RBI reference rate instead. The difference is usually under 1%, but the instructions specify SBI's rate, so use it.
Schedule FA: the rate on the date of each value
For Schedule FA, the ITR instructions convert each value at the TT buying rate on the date that value relates to. A lot that vested on 25 September 2024 uses that day's rate for its initial value. Its closing balance uses the rate for 31 December. Its peak value uses the rate on whichever day the rupee value was highest.
Capital gains and dividends: Rule 115
Income in the rest of the return follows Rule 115 of the Income Tax Rules: the TT buying rate on the last day of the month before the month of the sale or payment. For capital gains, the same single rate is applied to the sale value and the cost, so the gain is effectively worked out in dollars and converted once.
A worked example with real 2025 rates
Suppose you sold 10 shares at $200 each on 20 August 2025, from a lot that cost $131 a share.
| Where | Rate used | Rupee value |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule FA, Table A3 sale proceeds ($2,000) | ₹86.75, SBI rate on 20 Aug 2025 | ₹1,73,500 |
| Capital gains, sale value ($2,000) | ₹87.15, SBI rate on 31 Jul 2025 | ₹1,74,300 |
| Capital gains, cost ($1,310) | ₹87.15, same rate | ₹1,14,167 |
| Capital gain | ₹60,133 |
The same sale appears with two different rupee figures in the same return. That is correct, because the two schedules follow different rules.
Weekends and holidays
SBI does not publish a rate every day. When there is no rate for the date you need, the usual practice is to use the latest rate published before it. If the last day of a month is a Sunday, for example, the Saturday or Friday rate applies.
Where to find the rates
SBI publishes a PDF of its forex card rates each working day. A public archive of those daily PDFs, with the rates extracted into a spreadsheet, is maintained on GitHub (sahilgupta/sbi-fx-ratekeeper), going back to January 2020. FA Ready uses that archive and shows the rate and date behind every figure, so each one can be checked.