How to file ITR-2 with an Interactive Brokers (IBKR) account: India guide (2026)

Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is increasingly used by Indian LRS investors seeking lower brokerage costs, direct market access, and more sophisticated trading options than consumer platforms like Vested or INDmoney. IBKR's commissions are often lower than consumer platforms, and access to options, futures, and international markets is broader.

However, IBKR's reporting is designed for US and international institutional users — not for Indian ITR-2 filers. This guide shows how to extract the right numbers from IBKR and put them in the right places in your ITR-2.

IBKR account types for Indian LRS investors

Indian residents can open IBKR accounts via:

1. IBKR's direct LRS route: Open an IBKR account directly, fund via LRS from your Indian bank. Regulated as an LRS foreign investment. Account is with Interactive Brokers LLC (US entity) or Interactive Brokers India Pvt Ltd (SEBI-regulated subsidiary) depending on how you opened it.

2. IBKR via SEBI-registered entity (IBKR India): Interactive Brokers launched an India entity (SEBI-registered broker) that lets Indian residents invest in Indian markets plus some international access. This is different from the LRS route for direct US investing.

This guide focuses on the LRS route — where you've remitted USD to an IBKR US account and are investing in US markets. Tax treatment and Schedule FA disclosure apply to LRS accounts.

IBKR tax documents: what exists and what you need

IBKR provides rich reporting through its client portal. For Indian ITR-2 purposes:

IBKR Report	What it contains	Indian filing use
Annual Activity Statement	All transactions for the year: trades, dividends, interest	Primary source for capital gains and dividend income
Tax Form 1042-S	Dividend withholding (only for US NRAs)	Form 67 foreign tax credit
Flex Query (custom report)	Customisable transaction-level export in CSV/XML	Best for extracting specific data
Portfolio Analyst	Performance reporting	Not used for tax; useful for peak/closing value
Gain/Loss Report	Realised capital gains with cost basis	Starting point for Schedule CG

Step 1: Get the Annual Activity Statement

Log in to Client Portal → Reports → Tax Documents → Annual Statement. Download for the relevant calendar year (Jan 1–Dec 31).

The statement has sections:

• Trades: All buy/sell transactions with dates, quantities, prices, proceeds, cost basis
• Dividends: All dividend income with dates and amounts
• Withholding Tax: WHT deducted on dividends (this goes in Form 67)
• Fees: Any account fees (not deductible for Indian ITR-2)

Step 2: Extract capital gains data

From the Gain/Loss Report or Trades section:

For each realised sale during the Indian financial year (April 1 to March 31):

• Security name and ticker
• Purchase date (for each lot)
• Sale date
• Cost basis in USD per lot
• Sale proceeds in USD
• Gain/loss in USD

Convert to INR:

• Sale proceeds: USD × SBI TTBR on the sale date
• Cost basis: USD × SBI TTBR on the purchase date
• Capital gain in INR = INR sale proceeds − INR cost basis

This is critical: The gain must be computed in INR, not by converting the USD gain. If you bought VOO at $400 (₹84 rate) and sold at $500 (₹87 rate), the INR cost basis and proceeds use different rates. The Indian tax department requires INR computation using SBI TTBR at each date.

Holding period for LTCG/STCG:

• STCG (< 24 months from purchase date to sale date): taxed at slab rate
• LTCG (≥ 24 months): taxed at 12.5% under Section 112

Note: Section 111A (20% STCG for Indian listed equity) does not apply to foreign stocks. Foreign equity STCG is taxed at your slab rate.

Step 3: Extract dividend income

From the Dividends section of the Annual Activity Statement:

• Date of each dividend
• Amount in USD (gross, before withholding)
• Company/ETF name

Map to Indian financial year: Only dividends received between April 1 and March 31 of the relevant FY count for that year's ITR-2. Dividends received in January–March fall in the prior Indian FY. Check dates carefully.

Convert to INR: Gross dividend × SBI TTBR on the dividend payment date.

Report in Schedule OS → Foreign dividend income of ITR-2.

Step 4: Extract withholding tax for Form 67

From the Withholding Tax section:

• Date of withholding
• Amount withheld in USD
• Company/ETF name

This matches the gross dividend entry — you'll have one withholding row per dividend row.

Check: what rate was withheld?

• 25% = DTAA rate applied correctly (W-8BEN on file claiming treaty benefits)
• 30% = default NRA rate (W-8BEN not filed or not processed)

If 30% was withheld: you can only claim credit up to the DTAA rate of 25% in Form 67. The extra 5% is generally not creditable.

To update W-8BEN in IBKR: Client Portal → Settings → Account Settings → Tax Forms → W-8BEN. IBKR typically processes W-8BEN updates within a few days.

Aggregate the INR equivalent of all US WHT and use in Form 67. See Form 67 step-by-step for the complete field guide.

Step 5: Compute Schedule FA values

Table A2 in Schedule FA:

Field	Value for IBKR
Country	United States of America (US)
Institution Name	Interactive Brokers LLC
Address	One Pickwick Plaza, Greenwich, CT 06830, USA
Account Number	Your IBKR account number (starts with U followed by 7–8 digits)
Status	Beneficial Owner
Peak Value (INR)	Highest USD portfolio value during Jan 1–Dec 31 × SBI TTBR on that date
Closing Value (INR)	Dec 31 USD portfolio value × Dec 31 SBI TTBR

Finding peak value in IBKR: Client Portal → Reports → Portfolio Analyst → Time Period: Custom (Jan 1–Dec 31). Look at the equity curve and identify the peak date. Alternatively, download month-end statements and use the highest month-end value as a conservative approximation.

Using IBKR Flex Queries for cleaner data

For investors with many transactions, IBKR Flex Queries let you export precisely what you need:

1. Client Portal → Reports → Flex Queries → Create New Query
2. Select: Trades (buy/sell), Dividends, Withholding Tax
3. Date range: April 1 to March 31 of the relevant Indian FY
4. Format: CSV or Excel
5. Include: Open/Close date, cost basis, proceeds, ticker, ISIN

Flex Query fields to include for capital gains:

• Open/Close DateTime
• Buy/Sell
• Symbol
• ISIN
• Quantity
• Proceeds (USD)
• Cost Basis (USD)
• Gain/Loss (USD)
• Open DateTime (purchase date for each lot)

This export gives you lot-level data for Schedule CG computation.

Filling Schedule CG in ITR-2

Schedule CG has sub-sections for different asset types. US stocks are foreign equity — Section CGA (Capital Gains from Assets other than those specified under Section CGB and CGC).

For each sale event:

• Asset description: e.g., "VOO — Vanguard S&P 500 ETF — US listed"
• Date of acquisition (purchase date)
• Date of transfer (sale date)
• Full value of consideration (INR sale proceeds)
• Cost of acquisition (INR cost basis at purchase TTBR)
• Cost of improvement: ₹0 (no improvement cost for equity)
• Capital gain: difference

LTCG (≥ 24 months): Goes in Section 112 at 12.5% (no indexation available for foreign equity under Section 112).

STCG (< 24 months): Taxed at your slab rate. Added to total income.

LRS remittance: reconciling with capital gains

When you remit money from India to IBKR via LRS and later bring proceeds back, the INR you remit and the USD you invest are separate from the capital gain computation. The capital gain is purely on the USD appreciation in the investment — not on the USD/INR exchange rate movement of the principal.

Example: Remit ₹84 lakh (= $1M at ₹84), buy stocks. Stocks appreciate 20% to $1.2M. Sell and repatriate ₹1.26 crore (at same ₹84 rate). Capital gain = ($1.2M − $1M) × ₹84 = ₹16.8 lakh. No additional FX gain computation on the principal.

Note: If the USD/INR rate changed between remittance and repatriation — say you remitted at ₹84 and received proceeds at ₹87 — the exchange gain on the principal is not a separate taxable event for Indian income tax purposes on capital account transactions. Only the investment gain matters.

Advance tax for IBKR investors

If your net tax liability after IBKR TDS (zero, since IBKR doesn't deduct Indian TDS) exceeds ₹10,000, you must pay advance tax. Since IBKR deducts only US WHT (not Indian TDS), your entire Indian tax liability on IBKR capital gains and dividends requires advance tax payments.

See advance tax quarterly calendar for the instalment deadlines and calculation method.

TCS on LRS remittances to IBKR

When you fund your IBKR account via LRS, TCS applies above ₹10 lakh cumulative per financial year:

• Below ₹10 lakh: 0% TCS
• Above ₹10 lakh: 20% TCS on the excess

TCS is collected by your Indian bank. It is creditable against your total income tax at ITR-2 filing.

IBKR vs consumer platforms: when IBKR makes sense for Indian investors

Factor	IBKR	Vested/INDmoney/Rovia
Brokerage	$0–$0.005/share (very low)	0.15–0.25% per trade
Minimum account	None ($0 required)	None
Platform complexity	High (designed for traders)	Low (designed for retail)
Options/derivatives	Yes	No (most)
Tax document quality for India	Moderate (needs manual extraction)	Varies; some have India-specific reports
Schedule FA generator	None built-in	Rovia has one
Indian customer support	Limited	Better for Indian users

IBKR makes sense for investors with larger portfolios (>$50,000) who trade actively or need sophisticated instruments. For simple buy-and-hold of US ETFs, consumer platforms with India-specific tax tooling are easier.

Related reading

• How US stocks are taxed in India — full tax framework
• Schedule FA field-by-field guide — exact fields for A2 disclosure
• Form 67 step-by-step — foreign tax credit on dividends
• Advance tax on RSU income — quarterly instalment guide
• Best US stock platform India 2026 — platform comparison including IBKR